Jean B. Elshtain | 'Just war' ethicist, 72

Jean Bethke Elshtain, 72, a scholar and ethicist whose writings on religion, political philosophy, and the doctrine of "just war" helped bolster the moral justification for the war on terror, died Sunday, Aug. 11, of heart ailments at a long-term care facility in Nashville, said a statement from the University of Chicago, where she had taught since 1995.

Ms. Elshtain was a prolific writer and influential thinker whose ideas were often identified with neoconservative trends in politics and public life, particularly during the administration of President George W. Bush, with whom she had discussions at the White House.

In recent years, she was known as a proponent of the doctrine of "just war," an idea that had its origins in the writings of St. Augustine, the early Christian philosopher, who was one of Ms. Elshtain's intellectual touchstones.

The doctrine holds, in simplified form, that there is a moral imperative to go into battle against forces of unambiguous evil. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Ms. Elshtain was among those who believed the Bush administration was justified in going after Osama bin Laden and, later, invading Iraq with the goal of ousting Saddam Hussein.

In her 2003 book, Just War Against Terror, Ms. Elshtain applied the ideas of St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Martin Luther to the exercise of American military might and moral authority in the modern world.

Survivors include her husband of 47 years, Errol Elshtain, who adopted Ms. Elshtain's three children from an earlier marriage. They had a fourth child together. - Washington Post