Just War Theories in the West

Dan Kassel

Just War Theories in the West

Sinkwan Cheng

10/15/04

Since the beginning of time, strong nations have taken over weaker ones without any consideration for the indigenous people of those lands. Some claim that because many of these peoples are inferior intellectually and/or physically to the conquerors, than by nature they are slaves and, as stated by Aristotle, "it is better for them as inferiors that they should be under the rule of a master (Aristotle, Vitoria 239)." However, natural law claims that all men are equal and liberty is entitled equally for all. It is also stated under this divine law that all men have the right to defend themselves. Therefore, it is according to natural law that despite a native peoples' intellectual capacity, they are granted the right to hold sovereignty over their land. Where all other laws falter, it is the laws of nature which hold true to providing what is best for mankind.

Take into account, for example, the Spanish conquest of the New World. The Indians who inhabited this land were immediately viewed as barbarians and seemed entirely unfit to govern themselves. According to Vitoria, "It is undoubtedly better for them to be governed by others, than to govern themselves (239)," but it must also be considered that these natives had complete ownership over their properties both publicly and privately, and therefore have the right to retain ownership over their land. It is by the workings of nature in the first place that these people were given this land, and if there is no concrete evidence that they have befouled what has been rightfully theirs for thousands of years before the Spanish invasion, than they ought to continue living in their isolated peace. "Peoples, techniques, and disease strains had continued to pass back and forth over the entire great land mass of Europe-Asia-Africa for interminable centuries, on into modern times, whereas the Indian peoples, whatever sporadic contact there may have been, had for some thousands of years not been in continuous touch with the ecumene (Lockhart, Schwartz 320)." It is this isolation which has also made Indian language, art, and social organization so uniquely valuable.

The insinuation that the Indians offended the wills of God cannot be used as a valid excuse for colonizing, for the Christens committed just as many offenses as the pagans. Vitoria writes, "Ð'...it is clear that dominion is formed in the image of God; but the image of God is not in the sinner, hence the sinner cannot have such dominion (241)." If Christens violate the wills of God as much as the pagans do, than according to Vitoria's statement, the Spanish are no more entitled to the land than the Indians are. Basically, it all comes down to natural law defining how human beings conform to their rational nature. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, identifies the rational nature of human beings as that which defines moral law: "the rule and measure of human acts is the reason, which is the first principle of human acts (Aquinas, ST I-II, Q.90, A.I)." It is according to the Indians' wills, which through natural law cannot be altered, that they lead their lives the way they do. Therefore, colonialism should not disrupt the natural flow of life.

Unfortunately, the Pope, who was the judge over whether or not laws had been breached, dictated natural law to the Spaniards. He did not see to it, however, that all natural laws, such as murder, theft, and sodomy, were justly observed. "Not all sins against natural law can be demonstrated to be so by evidence, at least to the satisfaction of