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Buddhism: Peace and Conflict

Buddhist responses to the Just War theory

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 2

Overview

Why the theory is foreign to traditional Buddhist teaching, the conditions closest to it, Bhikkhu Bodhi's War and Peace: A Buddhist Perspective, the ship's captain in the Upaya-kaushalya Sutra, and situation ethics.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Why is the Just War theory not part of traditional Buddhist teaching?

Key term

Which Just War conditions might a Buddhist find closest to Buddhist teaching?

Key term

Why do most Buddhists reject the Just War theory?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Why is the Just War theory not part of traditional Buddhist teaching?

    Model answer

    The Just War theory was developed in Christian thought, especially by Augustine and Aquinas. The Buddha gave no conditions under which killing in war becomes right.

  2. 2

    Which Just War conditions might a Buddhist find closest to Buddhist teaching?

    Model answer

    Right intention echoes the Buddhist stress on cetana, the intention behind an action. Proportionality and the protection of civilians echo the Buddhist concern to minimise harm.

  3. 3

    Why do most Buddhists reject the Just War theory?

    Model answer

    The killing of any being breaks the First Precept, however good the cause. War is rooted in hatred and brings bad kamma to everyone involved.

  4. 4

    Who is Bhikkhu Bodhi?

    Model answer

    Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Theravada monk, scholar and translator of the Pali scriptures. Bhikkhu Bodhi founded Buddhist Global Relief in 2008.

  5. 5

    What does Bhikkhu Bodhi argue in War and Peace: A Buddhist Perspective?

    Model answer

    Bhikkhu Bodhi argues that the Buddha's teaching offers no doctrine of a just war. Killing in war always involves an unwholesome intention and breaks the First Precept.

  6. 6

    Does Bhikkhu Bodhi accept that a nation may ever fight?

    Model answer

    Bhikkhu Bodhi recognises that a nation may feel it must defend itself against aggression. Bhikkhu Bodhi still holds that such fighting falls short of the Buddhist ideal.

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