Abstract

This essay is an exploration of method through a comparative study of Thomas Aquinas and Muhammad al-Shaybani on war, law, and statecraft. Through a close read of a select number of texts, it seeks to establish two points. First, that both Aquinas and al-Shaybani’s positions on war are entrenched within their respective positions on statecraft and the law. And second, to initiate the conceptual and theoretical framework that will help illume the moral wisdom (both shared and contested) contained in each tradition that can generate a baseline for additional research related to contemporary problems in the ethics and law of war.

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