We Iive in an age of unexamined concepts which risk becoming the more dangerous as they pass into action under the pressure of vague emotions. This is not to say that generosity is completely lacking, only that its impulses are not followed up by a careful analysis of reality. In fact, such an analysis is easily branded “cold” and “inhuman,” and generosity, the heart's voice, comes to be regarded as a substitute for policy. This situation is not improved but rather worsened by the entry of organized religious forces, the churches, into the area of international politics. The Christian churches, Catholic and Protestant, have of course been present in that area for centuries as very active elements.

In the current wave of conscientious objection, draft refusal, pacifism, crypto-pacifism and simple concern with war and morality, it is noteworthy that informed discussion of “just war” theory has been at a minimum, Tiiis fact is worth examining within a somewhat wider philosophical dimension than is perhaps customary.

The notion of “just war” represents an aspect of classical, even Hellenic ethical theory. In it the emphasis is macrocosmic, taking as its starting point the community considered as an organic whole, and seeking the “common good” of that community. This search for “common good” necessarily entails a balancing of claims, rights and needs. Historically, such a calculus has for its goal a benevolent reasonableness in the society, a quality that has generally been termed justice.