Ethics of War: Some Criticisms to Thomas Aquinas. And Some Additional Moral Reflections

Abstract

After reconstructing in a previous article the thought of Thomas Aquinas on the morality of the war, if certain conditions are respected, in the present article I critique some of the theses of Thomas himself, in large part by applying the ethical thought he expounded in various works, reaching, on some points of the ethics of war, to different conclusions from his own. In addition, I attempt some personal moral reflections on the morality of certain conducts that take place in war. The themes I deal with are the looting committed by soldiers fighting a just war and, in general, the actions against civilians (including embargoes and sanctions); the morality of soldiers fighting an unjust war (e.g.: should they desert/surrender? Must they do so even when the war is in an advanced state and the civilians of their people are at risk of massacre?); the condemnation of any false assertion during a war (I argue that there are false assertions uttered in the course of wars that are not lies); the prohibition/permission for clerics to fighting.