Abstract

Although St. Augustine is heralded as "the father of just war theory," he certainly is not the originator of the notion that some wars are just and others are not. That notion antedates Augustine by many centuries and can be found in the philosophical and historical literature of many nations and cultures, both in the East and in the West. Nevertheless, Augustine's influence upon what has emerged as "the just war tradition" in Western philosophy is nothing less than an indelible stamp; and his comments on the subject have served as standard reference points for every subsequent just war theorist. This is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that Augustine never engages in a comprehensive, systematic treatment of the subject, much less proposes a developed theory for what constitutes a just war. ;Literature on the topic of Augustine's just war theory is principally of two kinds: collections of his statements on just war and studies on just war which include overviews of Augustine's position. In addition, there can be found a comparatively small corpus of articles which address specific aspects of Augustine's just war thought. What is wanting is, first, a satisfactory attempt to situate Augustine's statements on just war within a larger theoretical framework in a way that clearly establishes the relation of these statements to the rest of the just war tradition, and, second, a comprehensive account of the philosophical commitments which underwrite Augustine's claims with respect to war and violence. ;The purpose of this dissertation is two fold: to reconstruct Augustine's theory of just war and to understand how his theory can be viewed as a consequence of his philosophical commitments both to Neo-Platonism and to Christian philosophy