Just War Theory and Neo-Platonism: Connections to the Crusades

On Friday, we learned about Neo-Platonism and St. Augustine's Just War Theory in philosophy class! Neo-Platonism advocates the idea that "the body is both the agent and prison of the soul". Plotinus was the last great pagan philosopher of the Greek civilization and a neoplatonist. His ideas were used in the Christian doctrine. The major idea was that within us lies a divine spark, a small piece of God's soul, and that there is this one universal good that allows happiness. Christians say that only through the grace of Jesus' sacrifice can people this be accessed. One must remove the faulty impressions of sensory knowledge to attain divine wisdom. God's grace allws one to access his good. By looking inward and then upward for grace, one can achieve salvation and happiness. Only "inner experience", studied through introspection, was valid. THis was later called the Beatific Vision.



This leaves room for a perfect connection to gothic cathedrals. Like Neo-Platonism suggests, there is a beauty within all of us, and by looking introspectively within ourselves, and by acknowledging this small piece of God's soul, we could achieve a greater happiness and access God's good. Just like humans, theoretically, gothic cathedrals are pretty ordinary on the outside. However, looking inside, they are illuminated by the light which passes through the bebautiful stained glass windows. According to Neo-Platonism, everyone has that small spark, that small piece of God's sould within them. The stained glass windows depicting sstories from the Bible reflect light within the cathedrals and create this magnificent atmosphere symbolic of the Beatific Vision (which is achieved through introspection and looking within one's self to search for good) This good resembles the interior of the gothic cathedrals. The interior is supposed to reveal to an individual the truth and these individuals are to learn from the stories depicted by the stained glass windows. These are basically forms of didactic art, since they helped teach the Christian religion to those who were illiterate at the time. These gothic cathedrals also resemble the idea that our bodies are sinful, but the soul and what's inside is what's pure and has thepotential to allow happinness and God's universal good. Outside= sinful, inside=purity and truth.

Now, let's discuss the Just War Theory. St. Augustine believed that war was a sin, but also knew that war was inevitable. He thought the only rationalization for war was to hope to achieve peace.

1. Last Resort

• A just war can only be initiated if all other non-violence options have been used.

2. Initiated by the government or a higher power

• A war is only just if an authoritative figure approves it is justified.

3. Chance of success

• A war can only be fought if there is a chance of success deaths and injuries that occur during a just war are morally justified. Therefore, you cannot kill out of your own enjoyment, but those deaths that are being caused must have a valid reason.

4. "Right Intentions"

• A just war can only be fought in order to "redress" a wrong suffered.
• The only objective of war is to solve the problem
• Self-defense against an armed attack is always a just cause.

5. Re-establish peace

• The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace.
• War should improve peace that existed before the war or would exist if the war had never been fought.

6. Proportionality

• You must use minimum amount of force to obtain peace/your objective.
• Violence used in war must be proportional to injury suffered.

7. Don't attack civilians

• Civilians never target war, and all measures to avoid killing them should be used.
• Civilians deaths are justified only if they're unavoidable victims of an attack or a military target.

Basically, we can start by connecting the second principle of this theory to that whole idea that it was Pope Urban II who initiated the Crusades. Pope Urban II qualifies as a higher power, and an authoritative figure, and therefore, the Crusades were justified. Basically, if a nation wanted to go to war with another nation, the Church's permission was needed. Principle number seven states that "civilians are never the target of war, and all measures to avoid killing htem should be used". However, we all know that the Crusaders killed countless civilians on their way to the Holy Land. Innocent people are not the same as "unavoidable victims". Therefore, the seventh principle was broken. These are the connections between the Just War Theory and the Crusades.