The concept of rights in the justification of the “just war”

Abstract

The theory of “just war” of Walzer, is a theory about the justification of states to go to war, as presented in his book: Just and unjust wars, whose central thesis is based on the following proposition: the only justification for going to war is the defense of two fundamental human rights, the right to life and the right to freedom, thus proving that in the theory of “just war”; the problem of jus ad bellum, i.e. the justification for going to war; and the problem of jus in bello, the justification for specific actions in the war, are separate, though related logically together. However, I will demonstrate that that logical relation, that Walzer gives these two topics has a major deficiency, which in spite of everything, can be remedied.

Key words: rights, right to life, right to freedom, “just war”, jus ad bellum, jus in bello.