Paul Ramsey and the Recovery of the Just War Idea

The year 2018 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Paul Ramsey's The Just War: Force and Political Responsibility. It takes far less than 50 years to forget most books, but there are three important reasons why The Just War should be remembered and read by those who haven't yet encountered it, or reread by those who have. The first reason is that this book, together with its older sibling War and the Christian Conscience, began the contemporary recovery of the just war idea for ethical, policy, and military thought and debate. The second reason is that Ramsey's theological methodology in these books, centering on the Christian idea of love of neighbor, remains a provocative model for focused Christian ethical thinking about these matters. And third, in addition to developing a love-based conception of just war, Ramsey also undertook a robust engagement with the then-ongoing secular policy debate about nuclear weapons, their possible use in war, and deterrence.