The Thomistic Institute Just War Theory: Catholic Ethics and the STEM Career | Prof. Joseph Capizzi
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Mar 1, 2019 Catholic ethicist Prof. Joseph Capizzi discusses Just War Theory, authority in declaring war, importance of right intention, ethical considerations for engineers in defense industries, and morality of soldiers in war scenarios.
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Who Counts As Right Authority In War Decisions
- Right authority means the political agent responsible for the specific political good must make war decisions.
- Authority can be corporate (e.g., Congress) and ties to the community whose borders, taxation, and citizenship the act protects.
Just Cause Requires Sufficient Violation Of Justice
- Just cause requires a violation of justice that is sufficient in gravity to make lethal force conceivable.
- Permitted causes include defense against unjust aggression and reparative/punitive aims; glory and expansion are explicitly excluded.
Right Intention Means Seeking Peace Not Victory
- Right intention demands that political actors actually seek peace, not merely victory or aggrandizement.
- Peace is normative: not just ceasefire but ordered toward the common international good that serves both states and the global community.