Can War be Just? (DT9014Y)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

This unit will explore Catholic and other Christian traditions on questions of war and peace, and their relevance for international relations and conflict resolution, especially in the context of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and religious fundamentalism. Attention will be given to the comparable just war tradition within Islam.

Unit code: DT9014Y

Unit status: Archived (New unit)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Moral Theology

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Yarra Theological Union

Show when this unit is running

Learning outcomes

1.

Demonstrate skills in reading texts and interpreting contexts for the development of various theories within just war traditions
2.

Describe and critically evaluate interpretations of the just war tradition
3.

Present in written form a critical appreciation of key debates about moral dilemmas in the face of violence and war
4.

Articulate how the churches and Christian thought can advance peace, and constrain outbreaks of violence and war
5.

Propose processes by which religious traditions might better sustain peacemaking and reconciliation among peoples.
6.

Illustrate the effectiveness of secular and/or religious moral traditions constraining violence in recent armed conflicts or wars

Unit sequence

One unit in Moral Theology or equivalent.

Pedagogy

Lectures, class discussion, essay writing, use of online media.

Indicative Bibliography

  • Astley, Jeff, David Brown and Anne Loades. War and Peace: a Reader. Problems in Theology 3. London: T & T Clark, 2003.
  • Coady, Tony and Michael O’Keefe, eds. Terrorism and Justice: Moral Argument in a Threatened World. Melbourne: Melbourne U.P., 2003.
  • Cortright, David. Peace: a History of Movements and Ideas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
  • Duncan, Bruce. War on Iraq: is it Just? Sydney: Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, 2003.
  • Esposito, Joseph. Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam. New York: OUP, 2002.
  • Jewett, Robert and John S Lawrence. Captain America and the Crusade against Evil: the Dilemmas of Zealous Nationalism. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 2003.
  • Johnson, James. T. The Quest for Peace: Three Moral Traditions in Western Cultural History. Princeton NJ: Princeton U. P., 1987.
  • Kleiderer, John, Paula Minaert and Mark Mossa. Just War, Lasting Peace: what Christian Traditions can teach us*. Maryknoll NY: Orbis, 2006.
  • Massaro, Thomas J. and Thomas A Shannon. Catholic Perspectives on Peace and War. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.
  • Murphy, James G. War’s Ends: Human Rights, International Order and the Ethics of Peace. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2014.
  • Swift, Louis J. The early Fathers on War and Military Service. Wilmington, DL: Michael Glazier, 1983.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

2500-word essay (40%) from a choice of a page of topics

 2500 40.0
Essay

3,500-word essay (60%), choosing one of a page of topics.

 3500 60.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by John Capper on 31 Dec, 2014

Unit record last updated: 2020-10-28 14:50:33 +1100