Can a pacifist have a conversation with Augustine? A response to Alain EppWeaver (On the philosophical and ethical analysis of warfare and lying according to Augustine and Yoder)

Christians have historically differed as to whether the wrongness of an act is to be located in the objective character of the act or in the intention of the agent. By blurring this distinction, Alain Epp Weaver fails to see the real principle of consistency that unites Augustine's analyses of warfa re and lying. Likewise, by not appreciating the fact that Augustine analyze s the wrongness of the act in terms of intention whereas Yoder analyzes its wrongness in terms of its objective character, Weaver proposes a conversat ion between two figures who lack the framework of shared assumptions that m akes engagement in conversation possible.