Friday, April 20, 2018
Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
This evening we discussed Aquinas. First half on angels and the arguments for the existence of God and the second half on the Natural Law and Just Wars. The videos are here and here. The first quiz question was do you think the attack on Syria was a just war? Authority, cause, and intention. Second quiz all men are created equal is that natural law for Aquinas?
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1.) Yes, the attack on Syria was justified. When they decided to use chemical weapons in war on civilians that is a crime that can not go unpunished. Reason why is that if the powers do not respond it opens the door or others to use chemical weapons indiscriminately with out fear of reprisal from the rest of the world to stop the proliferation of its use on civilians. The attack Syrian government (Assad forces) was justified and sent a clear message to those who would choose to do so again. On the other hand giving that not all the forces fighting Assad's government are not all good guy's it is possible that that some extreme group also fighting Assad used the chemical weapons to get the world to react and attack Assad's government just like the Hezbollah uses shelters in schools and hospitals and civilians to hide arms and house troops so if they do get attacked they get a media attack on Israel so the rest of the Arab world will send them more money and arms even when Hezbollah started the fight by purposely firing first at the Israelis.
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