MORAL PHILOSOPHY

Moral Philosophy and Dilemma of War

Moral Philosophy and Dilemma of War

Introduction

War is a state of organized, armed and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations or other parties. War has been going on for millenniums. Philosopher pondered whether war is ever justified different views and theories have developed throughout the centuries and attempted to solve this dilemma the first theory to be considered is “the just war” theory, also known as the just war tradition (Rachels and Rachels, 2009).

Thomas Aquinas in the 17th century developed the 'Just war' doctrine utilized in the rational Utilitarian theory. This principle sets out the regulative and prescriptive process on how war should be fought. This principle has been adapted in the Geneva Convection International laws of war, which states that a State has the power to initiate war whenever human safety is at risk. The Geneva conception has international law of war requires justifiable reasons on why a country declares wars on another. This can be well examined in Iraq war and the rational choices made by the UK and the US for the attack (Winfield, 2004, 67).

The principle of utility, to create a definition loosely from the thoughts of Bentham, Mill and Singer, is that we should act in such a way that improves overall happiness and reduce suffering. The principle of utility concerned with consequences of actions, not just the actions themselves. For instance, (to use a very clear example) one should not murder because that reduces happiness and causes suffering (Rachels and Rachels, 2009).

Discussion

The Iraqi War: Rational Utilitarian Theory

The rational-utilitarian theory in criminology adopts a rational choice in stating that man has the power to reason and weigh the ends and means, the benefit and cost, and to make choices that are rational. The rational-utilitarian theory is a result of previous experiments, which investigates the nature of human beings. Data for these experiments were gathered from behavioral techniques. The concept of rational choice is the center of Rational Utilitarian theory which can be applied in the Iraq vs. US war. Utilitarian premises produce rational choice in making interpretation of social experiences. These concepts can be traced back in to the ancient doctrine of Jus ad bellum which means "just war" in Latin Language. This doctrine gives the power for individuals to choose what is best for the society, and what is best to every individual in the society (Rachels and Rachels, 2009). This ancient theory can be applied in modern social events that the society has experienced.

One of the social events that this theory can be applied is the Iraq war, which called the US government to take actions through rational decisions of weighing what is best for the society and good for world peace. The fight of US government against Iraq came after organizations and parties making a decision based on their empirical knowledge on what best suit the society and man. This is the doctrine of paternalism in the making of rational choices when undertaking a ...