soft cover book

Most individuals realise that we have a moral obligation to avoid the evils of war. But this realization raises a host of difficult questions when we, as responsible individuals, witness harrowing injustices such as "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia or starvation in Somalia. With millions of lives at stake, is war ever justified? And, if so, for what purpose? In this book, Richard J. Regan confronts these controversial questions by first considering the basic principles of just-war theory and then applying those principles to historical and ongoing conflicts. Part One presents two opposing viewpoints: first, that war is not subject to moral norms and, second, that war is never morally permissible. The author rejects both perspectives, and moves to define the principles of just-war theory. He evaluates the roles of the president, Congress and, most importantly, the UN Security Council in determining when long-term US military involvement is justified. The moral limits of war conduct and the moral problem of using, or threatening to use, nuclear weapons are also discussed. On the just cause to wage war, Regan argues that defense of nations and nationals - whether in self-defense or in defense of others - remains the "only" classical cause that in the modern world would justify resorting to war. With respect to military intervention in secessionist and revolutionary wars, he contends that such intervention might be justified, but that prudence dictates extreme caution. In considering acceptable war conduct, Regan elaborates the specific principle of discrimination and proportionality; he maintains that civilians uninvolved in the enemy's war should not be directly targeted and that the costs of military action must be proportionate to the anticipated benefits of destroying military targets. The second part of the book presents case studies of eight historical wars - World War I, the Vietnam War, the Falklands War, the revolution and civil war in Nicaragua, the civil war in El Salvador, the Gulf War, the intervention in Somalia, and the Bosnian War - and poses several provocative questions about each. It invites readers and students to apply just-war principles to complex war-related situations and to understand the factual contingencies involved in moral judgements about war decisions. The book should be of particular interest to students of the moral issues of international relations and to readers interested more generally in philosophy, theology and political science.

Product Description: In the De potentia, Thomas Aquinas runs a series of disputations on the power of God. The treatise considers ten questions related to God's power to create external things, namely the universe, angels, and human beings. His explanation of creation here is the most developed treatment found in any of his writings, but the principal purpose of the work is to analyze the internal life of God--that is, the Trinity...read more

Product Description: Offering the first complete translation into modern English of Aquinas' unfinished commentary on Aristotle's Politics, this translation follows the definitive Leonine text of Aquinas and reproduces in English those passages of William of Moerbeke's exacting yet elliptical translation of the Politics from which Aquinas worked...read more

Product Description: Richard J. Regan's new translation of texts from Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica II–II--on the virtues prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance--combines accuracy with an accessibility unmatched by previous presentations of these texts...read more

Product Description: This compact collection of philosophical texts from the Summa Theologica--on God, creation, the soul, human acts, moral good and evil, love, habits, virtue, and law--is presented newly translated in abridged form and cast in a modified version of the medieval quaestio...read more

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Product Description: The third volume of newly translated selections from the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Fr. Richard Regan turns to his thoughts on the moral dimensions of human action. Focusing on the first part of the second folume of the Summa Theologiae, he deals with such topics as the ultimate human goal, human acts, emotions and virtues...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: This volume is an anthology of the passages in St Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae on human nature. The topics covered are ones of the nature of the human soul, its relation to the body, the activities of the intellect and how they reflect the intellectual climate of St Thomas' day...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: God and Creation is a new translation of St. Thomas Aquinas's treatment of these subjects in the Summa Theologiae, with introductory and explanatory material provided to assist the reader's understanding of the texts.  The selected questions and articles fall within the area of what is described as natural theology or the study of truth about God that are accessible to human reason without the aid of divine revelation...read more

Product Description: Book by Regan, Richard J.