Just War Theory
1
What are absolute moral rules and why does Elizabeth Anscombe think that
war is always wrong?
Moral Absolutism refers to the ethical view that the actions are usually morally and
intrinsically are either right or wrong. It states that there may be some deeds which can be seen
being wrong however, in the end, if they promote goodness, then it can be stated that the deed is
moral correct. The absolute moral rules are therefore, the rules that state certain actions must be,
or rather ought to be done or avoided, irrespective of the situations (Meyers. 2016, p.130, para.
2). There should be no exceptions. The examples include, not lying, never killing an innocent
person intentionally, never betraying somebody and the Ten Commandments.
According to Elizabeth Anscombe, regarded war to be always morally incorrect and that
it must be avoided in all kinds of situations. Anscombe, a catholic believer, regarded as one of
the most important philosophers of all the times, had mentioned in her work, “Modern Moral
Philosophy”, focused on the virtue theory, during the time of bombing and intolerant situations
in America. She had rejected the theory of Consequentialism and stated that there are moral
differences in the results of action that have been intentionally done and those, which were
foreseen but never meant to happen. Therefore, she viewed War to be an intended action. She
opined that War and the consequences of War, are foreseen and even upon knowing the
consequences, they are executed (Bayefsky. 2013. P. 231, 4-5). Therefore, War is morally
incorrect. She mentioned that Consequentialism is just another synonym for Utilitarianism and
she believed that if all the deeds are done to get the ‘results’ then there are many possible and
best ways to get the result, avoiding thee War situation, which she thought an intended case of
Mass Murder.

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