Is_Aquinas_A_Pacifist_

Is Aquinas A Pacifist' Is Aquinas a pacifist' If so why' If not, why not' According to Aquinas, would the US attack on Iraq be justified' Why or why not' Consider all relevant parts of his essay. Pacifist is a person opposed to war or violence as a means of settling disputes. Cottingham defines the extreme pacifist as a person who never ethically justifies a war. According to the above definitions, Aquinas is not a pacifist and the US attack on Iraq would be justified from the arguments that follow. The first sentence of Aquinas' essay justifies the fact that he is not a pacifist. 'I declare that there are three requirements for a war to be just.' This statement proves that Aquinas doesn't support any one of the extreme positions, meaning being a pacifist or considering that war cannot be avoided and everything is an issue of convenience and self-interest to the parties involved. The three requirements that Aquinas sets for a war to be just are the 'authority of the ruler', 'a just cause', and the 'intention'. By the 'authority of the ruler', he means that the government has to make a declaration of war before engaging war, aquinas, iraq, pacifist, just, attack, three, requirements, means, justified, essay, cause, attacked, against, violence, second, ruler, requirement, president, person, one, meets, justifies, intention, first, fact, extreme, authority, according, above, wrong, world, weapons, way, warfare