''Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations'' is a 1977 book by the philosopher

Michael Walzer Michael Laban Walzer (born 1935) is an American political theorist and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey, he is editor emeritus of '' Dissent'', an intellectual magazin ...

. Published by

Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history. H ...

, it is still in print, now as part of the Basic Books Classics Series. A second edition was published in 1992, a third edition in 2000, a fourth edition in 2006, and a fifth edition in 2015. The book resulted from Walzer's reflections on the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Summary

Walzer draws on medieval

Just War theory The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war i ...

to explore the reasons that can justify war ''

jus ad bellum ' ( or in the traditional English pronunciation of Latin; Latin for "right to war") is a set of criteria that are to be consulted ''before'' engaging in war in order to determine whether entering into war is permissible, that is, whether it wil ...

'' and the ethical limits on the conduct of war ''

jus in bello The law of war is the component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war ('' jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of warring parties (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territ ...

'' in an attempt to work out a modern, secular theory of just war.

Reception

''Just and Unjust Wars'' has, together with ''

Spheres of Justice ''Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality'' is a 1983 book by the philosopher Michael Walzer. Summary Walzer argues in favour of an idea he calls "complex equality", and against the view that goods with different meaning and cont ...

'' (1983) and ''

Interpretation and Social Criticism ''Interpretation and Social Criticism'' is a 1987 book about political philosophy by Michael Walzer Michael Laban Walzer (born 1935) is an American political theorist and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced ...

'' (1987), been identified as one of Walzer's most important works by the philosopher Will Kymlicka in '' The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'' (2005). The work is considered a standard in the philosophical literature on the ethics of warfare, with the

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. E ...

calling ''Just and Unjust Wars'' "the major contemporary statement of just war theory."

References

1977 non-fiction books Basic Books books Books by Michael Walzer English-language books Philosophy books Ethics books Political books Just war theory {{ethics-book-stub