Just-war thinking: a Substack Seminar

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Aug 01, 2025

August has arrived, and as promised I’m launching my Substack Seminar on the just-war tradition. Next Friday, August 8, I’ll post the first “lecture” to introduce the course, explain my approach to the topic, and show how you can join in the discussion.

(If you’re only now learning about this discussion, I’ve already provided a rough working outline of the seminar here.)

In leading Just War seminars for college students and in countless discussions with colleagues and friends, I’ve found that this topic never fails to stimulate lively debate. And if you pay any attention to the news, I’m sure I don’t have to convince you that the subject is relevant today! So I hope you’ll join us!

Things you should know:

• The first few weeks of this Substack Seminar will be available to everyone without charge, so that you can sample the discussion. But then participation will be restricted to paid subscribers. (By then I think you’ll be hooked!)
• Participants will be welcome to express their own opinions. There are very few settled questions in this field; virtually every issue we cover will allow of a wide variety of viewpoints, and different evaluations of the available evidence. Lively debate will be encouraged, provided only that it is civil and respectful.
• Every week I will recommend some reading for the next week’s session, and explain why I think the assignment is useful. These will obviously be suggestions, not requirements. You may already feel comfortable discussing that week’s topic, and/or you may prefer—and might even recommend!—other sources.

In the coming weeks we’ll explore:

1. How the possibility of fighting a just war can be reconciled with the exceptionless Christian imperative to love one’s neighbor.
2. What constitutes a just cause for fighting a war?
3. Why the justice of a cause does not, by itself, guarantee the justice of the war, since the conduct of the military campaign must also be guided by justice.
4. How inaccurate or incomplete information clouds moral decisions.
5. Whether the development of a “war-fighting capability” makes war more or less likely.
6. Why a just war is always, by definition, a limited war.

But before we tackle those questions, I want to spend just a bit of time reflecting on why nations fight wars, and how the entire tradition of just-war thinking arose.

To kick things off, let me make my first reading recommendation: The Art of War, by Sun Tzu. This little classic, by a brilliant Chinese strategist of the 5th century BC, has something to teach anyone about the nature of conflict. I find it especially helpful to soak in his thinking about how to evaluate a potential adversary, how to prepare for a battle fought on your own terms, and above all, how to gain the triumph without fighting the war.

To join the Just War discussion, sign up for a subscription to my Substack. Initial subscription is free, with no obligation.