Idea wojny sprawiedliwej – od starożytności po czasy nowożytne

• Authors: Grzebyk Patrycja

Title variants

EN

Development of the just war theory from the ancient to the modern times

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The article presents main stages of development of the just war theory from the ancient times to the modern ones in terms of a right to use force (ius ad bellum). This analysis is indispensable to answer the question whether opinions of the greatest lawyers and philosophers of past times justify a return from the distinction on a bellum legale and a bellum illegale to a bellum iustum and a bellum iniustum. The problem is increasingly serious because references to justness are nowadays more and more frequent especially when there is a need to justify armed operations. Furthermore a general revival of the just war argumentation can be observed in recent publications which inclines to a deeper meaning, historical reflection. The article starts with a few remarks on the Greek attitude towards the war and a Roman ius fetiale which are usually considered as roots of the just war theory. It describes also an impact of the Christian thought on perceiving the war with great emphasis on the achievements of the Middle Ages thinkers. Reflections on the modern times start with description of ideas represented by the Spanish lawyers like Vitoria or Suarez who are often perceived as continuators of mediaeval thinkers. Then there is a part devoted to representatives of the modern times like Machiavelli, Bodin or Gentili who redefined the just war theory and used it to justify an unrestricted right to use force by a sovereign. The article presents also a period of general rejection of the just war theory by lawyers like Zouche, Pufendorf, Rachel, Textor or Bynkershoek with significant exceptions of Grotius, Wolff or Vattel who is perceived as the last supporter of the just war theory.

• Publisher: Fundacja „Utriusque Iuris” i Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Forum Prawnicze
• Year: 2010
• Issue: 2 (2)
• Pages: 56-73

Contributors

author

Grzebyk Patrycja

• Zakład Studiów Strategicznych Instytutu Stosunków Międzynarodowych Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego