The Peace Ethics of Luigi Taparelli d’Azeglio In the past, one of the Institute’s central research points has been the exploration of the peace ethics tradition. The theological and philosophical tradition on peace and war is, like western thinking in general, rooted in antiquity. Since then, every era – from the Middle Ages and the “modern age” up until today – has wrestled with the question of how war, peace and justice should stand in relation to one another. An issue of central importance concerns whether it is ethically right or even ethically imperative to use military force in order to achieve peace and, if so, under which conditions. The aim of this research is to identify the conclusions emerging out of this intellectual process and the history of their impact. By doing so, we lay bare the roots of our contemporary thinking and use these historical insights to expand our current perspective. A profound knowledge of the past, with a view towards contemporary problems, opens the horizon for future solutions. For over 30 years, the Institute for Theology and Peace has been identifying key milestones in peace ethics: from Cicero to Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Francisco de Vitoria, Barolomé de Las Casas, Domingo de Soto, Francisco Suárez up until the teachings of the 20th century. Our work has subsequently grown into a renowned library of the peace ethics tradition which is unparalleled. From Spring 2016 until Spring 2018, we completed a part-time project about Luigi Taparelli d’Azeglio, a Jesuit from a noble Piedmontese family (1793-1862). Through his magnum opus1 as well as his journalistic work as a founding editor of the cultural magazine La Civiltà Cattolica, Taparelli’s natural law approach strongly influenced the thinking of Leo XIII and subsequent popes. Within his expansive writings, our project focused on Taparelli’s perspectives on the ethics of peace and war, especially on the coordination and acceptance of responsibility on the international and supranational level. At the same time, we found it important to emphasize that these particular aspects can only be understood when rooted within the context of Taparelli’s general understanding of natural law. In this scope, the overall concept of Taparelli’s ethics of peace and war, including the anticipated gradual development of a union of nations – in his words, an ‘ethnarchy’ – is found to be congruent with the contemporary catholic peace ethics. In his postulation of an ‘ethnarchy’, Taparelli considers, among others, the union’s ability to intervene in cases of extreme breaches of justice within the territories of member states. Taparelli makes a clear distinction between the scope of the ‘ethnarchy’s’ authority, that of third-parties to the conflict, and that of the population of the affected state. The abovementioned project was concluded for the time being with a conference lecture in September 2017 and the publication of written contributions: “Luigi Taparellis naturrechtlicher Entwurf einer weltweiten Friedensordnung”. Theologie und Philosophie 94 (2019), p. 367-402 and “Luigi Taparelli als Vordenker der Friedensethik Leos XIII. und Benedikts XV.”. In: Birgit Aschmann, Heinz-Gerhard Justenhoven [Ed.]. Dès le début. Die Friedensnote Papst Benedikts XV. von 1917. Paderborn 2019, p. 49-68. The project allowed the Institute to contribute yet another valuable piece to the mosaic of milestones that constitute the Christian peace ethics tradition. ¹ Saggio teoretico di diritto naturale appoggiato sul fatto, 1st edition, Palermo 1840-43 (three respectively revised editions followed until 1855). Project Supervisor · External Dr. Marco Schrage
