Published in Mirabilia Journal 31 (2020/2)  

Keywords: Keywords: Justice, Peace, Thomas Aquinas, War.

The goal of this text is to analyze the notion of peace in Thomas Aquinas’ theory of just war. The texts of Summa theologiae are as follows: STh. IIa-IIae, q. 40, a. 1 and STh. IIa-IIae q. 29, a. 1 and 2. Thomas Aquinas places the notion of peace as the goal of war in the broad context of an ethics of virtues in the line proposed by Aristotle. However, we will argue that Thomas Aquinas’ reception of the Augustinian notion of peace as tranquillitas ordinis (tranquillity of order) plays a fundamental role in his view of just war by allowing him a transcendental justification.