The Moral Philosophy of Resistance to Tyranny

In the book The Morality of Self-Defense and Military Action: The Judeo-Christian Tradition, author David B. Kopel objectively discusses difficult and controversial topics of moral philosophy that spill over into hotter political issues, such as the morality of armed self-defense, the justification for revolutions, resistance to tyranny, and engagement in collective military action (war) as explained by the Judeo-Christian inheritance — a main pillar of Western civilization.

Religious and philosophic authorities — such as St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430), who lived near the time of the fall of Rome; John of Salisbury (1120–1180), the Bishop of Chartres and a leader of the Early Renaissance of the 11th century — refused to submit to illegal government authority.