Matthew Shadle has authored an important book for a global readership in which he discusses the traditional idea of “just war theory.” His is a work that does not investigate just war once it begins (jus in bello) or the moral questions which emerge after hostilities cease. Rather, his work is an effort to understand the moral questions facing potential belligerents prior to the beginning of hostilities (jus ad bellum) through the lens of the Catholic intellectual tradition. His investigation spans the two thousand year history of the Church and takes stock of the thoughts of many major figures including ecclesiastical authorities and members of the intellectual establishment.
His fundamental point about the origins of war is that what the Catholic tradition traditionally relied upon when dealing with the justifications for entering hostilities is founded on presuppositions that have been “uncritically accepted” by both the Church herself and the intellectual community. He concludes that these presuppositions extend from the early years to recent times of the Church's history. This history takes account of revealed teachings (scripture), ecclesiastical documents, and the works of commentators from Augustine, Aquinas, and neo-Scholastics to those in the present age. Of course, others have concluded that there is much more to the Catholic tradition than Shadle appears to concede.
Moreover, he claims that the dominant view or perspectives of the origins of war in Catholic thinking began to make a change from the tradition in the 1980s and 1990s when the “constructivist” school began to make an impact on Catholic thinking pertaining to the origins of war. The constructivist approach according to Shadle is founded on a Catholic evaluation of contemporary attitudes regarding international politics, affairs, and law.
The constructivist approach begins with an evaluation of the role of historicity, that is, how beliefs and actions are conditioned by time, place, and culture. It then moves into consideration of the relationship between human nature and the grace of God which formulate the destiny of the human person. These forces combine to formulate a new method for understanding why powers go to war and whether they should or not engage in hostilities.
To flesh out his thesis, Shadle begins with a scriptural account of the use of force. He then considers the contributions of Augustine, Aquinas, and the neo-Scholastics, and other major Catholic thinkers. He includes in this investigation voices outside of the Catholic tradition which critique the traditional natural law approach of Catholic thought on the use of force. By way of complement, he then takes stock of contemporary international relations theories dealing with the use of force in the age of modern weapons, including those having the capacity of mass destruction. He then adds into his investigation two major contemporary, Catholic voices of Bryan Hehir and George Weigel, both of whom are known for addressing moral issues within the context of Catholic thought.
One concern that many astute readers will have with Shadle's constructivist thesis is his statement that constructivist thinkers “share with the critical theorists and postmodernists the belief that reality is socially constructed.” (p. 77) Of course, for many this is a problematic thesis, and those who critique “socially constructed reality” have aired and defended legitimate points. However, what brings Shadle back to the conventional Catholic fold is the qualification that an objective account of reality is required for the truth of the matter to be discovered.
Much of the remainder of the book is rooted in twentieth century Catholic intellectual thought where he considers ecclesiastical and other Catholic intellectuals who have analyzed and written about the morality of the use of force. In the latter group of intellectual investigators he includes both clerical and lay thinkers. An intriguing and important question which he raises in this context is the relation between the reasons given to justify the use of force and the history of salvation. A central contribution of Shadle is that he acknowledges the nexus between “the light of theology” and the grounds on which war can or cannot be legitimated. In making this assertion he does not naively contend that theology can be the source of all answers to difficult and dangerous matters of international relations; however, theology is a source which can provide crucial insight that many secular experts would ignore or disregard. This is a strength of his book. Thus he properly contends that Christian, that is, Catholic, thought necessitates a moral evaluation of serious matters—an evaluation that is founded on the investigation of the virtuous person. It is virtue that guides those who practice prudence, justice, forbearance, and love. Clearly these practices can have an extraordinary impact on addressing why the leaders of a state or other power should or should not rely on force to implement decisions bearing on the common good of the international community.
At this stage of his new book, Shadle introduces other Catholic thinkers into his investigation. Jacques Maritain, John Courtney Murray, Dorothy Day, John XXIII, the Council Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, Paul VI, John Paul II, J. Bryan Hehir, and George Weigel each contribute important insights to addressing the question why should powers go to war. While all of these individuals speak as Catholics, they offer variety within this great religious tradition. More importantly, each of these perspectives which Shadle incorporates into his investigation demonstrates the desirability of sampling the nuances of a variety of important thinkers to address the question of why go to war.
A major value of this book is that Shadle does not offer easy answers to difficult questions. Rather he provides vital insights that those who will make difficult decisions will need to address in answering whether the use of force should be pursued. Shadle does not contend that there is a Catholic way or theory about going to war. Rather there is a Catholic way of evaluating the justifiability of the use of force. As his book demonstrates, the Catholic intellectual tradition has much to offer those who wish to understand and deal with this difficult question of the day.
