Reconciling Just War Theory with "Do no evil so that good might come from it"

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mdgspencer said:
The opening post assumes every war is evil.
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kapp19 said:
It is not evil to defend yourself or your countrymen.
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The OP is not claiming that every war is evil or defense is unjust. The issue in question is “consequentialism.” Consequentialism-- or rather, the denial that it can be used to morally justify certain aspects of war-- is an important component of Catholic teaching on “just war theory.” It is an important component, as well, in Catholic teaching concerning the morality of individual actions.

The means do not justify the ends. The church says, in essence, that not only do we have to do the right thing, but that we must do it in the right way.
 
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As I see it, “the end does not justify the means” is an ethical formulation.

Instead “Do no evil so that good might come from it” is a more metaphysical formulation, which we could also express with “evil can never generate good”,

It is obviously a question of moral evil, proportionate self-defense is not a moral evil at all, it can be a physical evil.

A metaphysical - or even anthropological formulation, which in fact is metaphysical of the person - means: “Do not delude yourself, even if you have the best intentions, moral evil has no capacity to produce good, if you do it you will remain disappointed”
 
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