Ethics of War
Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 5:38 pm
From the discussion of To what extent is moral behavior situational?
Coincidentally, I'm starting this thread on Veteran's Day (or Armistice Day if you're European). Earlier today, my wife and I joined some friends for brunch. We had two minutes of silence for Veteran's and Armistice Day. I thought about the hardships, injuries, and deaths among US soldiers in Iraq. However, I couldn't think of them as heroes or feel gratitude for what they're doing.
Regarding genarroyo's example, I was reminded of an article I read about US military training. Most people have an extreme aversion to killing others, even in wartime, and many soldiers refused to do so during the two world wars. The US military subsequently developed a training regiment to overcome that moral barrier and make all soldiers willing to shoot the enemy, in part by dehumanizing the foe.
Anyway, there's a lot more to discuss on these topics. Any opinions?
Wartime ethics is a tough subject, and deserves its own thread. Are soldiers heroes, villains, or somewhere in-between? What ethical guidelines apply on the battlefield? Zimbardo doesn't really address these issues, despite his lengthy discussion of Abu Ghraib.genarroyo wrote:I bet that this "situational" thing causes a lot of headaches for the military (with respect to sending our troops to war). On the one hand the military needs to create people who are capable of killing other people and the soldiers have to adapt to a whole new world. BUT-the military can't create complete killing machines devoid of morals. How is that balance found?
Coincidentally, I'm starting this thread on Veteran's Day (or Armistice Day if you're European). Earlier today, my wife and I joined some friends for brunch. We had two minutes of silence for Veteran's and Armistice Day. I thought about the hardships, injuries, and deaths among US soldiers in Iraq. However, I couldn't think of them as heroes or feel gratitude for what they're doing.
Regarding genarroyo's example, I was reminded of an article I read about US military training. Most people have an extreme aversion to killing others, even in wartime, and many soldiers refused to do so during the two world wars. The US military subsequently developed a training regiment to overcome that moral barrier and make all soldiers willing to shoot the enemy, in part by dehumanizing the foe.
Anyway, there's a lot more to discuss on these topics. Any opinions?