True Faith And Allegiance: The Burden of Military Ethics

Notes

Notes Introduction 1. Irving Kristol, "Ethics, Anyone? Or Morals?" Wall Street Journal, 15 Sept. 1987, 32. 2. I do not mean to suggest that there is no place for "big words," but I am not sure that that place is the beginning course in military ethics or in general ethics survey courses. Undergraduate students in ethics, confronted too soon with "act utilitarianism," "deontological ethics," "hedonist calculus," and "universalizability" can become frustrated . At the same time, this is not an appeal for "snap courses" in ethics—quite the reverse. 3. Kristol, "Ethics, Anyone?" 32. 4. "Where NBC Went Wrong," Time, 22 Feb. 1993, 59. 5. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, "Dan Quayle Was Right," Atlantic Monthly, April 1993, 77, 58. 6. Sir John Winthrop Hackett, "The Military in the Service of the State," in War, Morality, and the Military Profession, 2d ed., ed. Malham M. Wakin (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1986), 119-20. 7. See John O. Marsh, "Values and the American Soldier," Military Review, Nov. 1986, 7. 8. Quoted in Bernard T. Adeney, Just War, Political Realism, and Faith (Methuen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1988), 124. 9. See James H. Toner, The American Military Ethic: A Meditation (New York: Praeger, 1992). 10. Douglas A. Martz, "Professional Military Ethics," Marine Corps Gazette, Aug. 1990, 58. 11. See John Alvis, "Why a Proper Core Curriculum Is Political and Ought Not Be 'Politicized,'" Intercollegiate Review 28 (Spring 1993): 24-32. 12. See, e.g., the movie Presidio (1988), in which the point is made that soldiers, except in wartime, are not highly prized by the civilian community. For an excellent short summary of the disdain frequently reserved for American soldiers in our society, see Rick Atkinson, The Long Gray Line (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989), 377-78; see also Man- Notes to Pages 5-12 155 uel M. Davenport, "Professionals or Hired Guns? Loyalties Are the Difference," Army, May 1980, 14. 13. Quoted in G. Edward White, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: Law and the Inner Self (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1993), 49. 14. I do not explore here at any appreciable length the issues of "just war," realism, or pacifism, but those topics were treated in an earlier book of mine: James H. Toner, The Sword and the Cross: Reflections on Command and Conscience (New York: Praeger, 1992). 15. I would appreciate reader response. Was the book helpful or confusing? Did it clarify or cloud your own thinking? What has it contributed to your education? I can be reached at the Department of National Security Studies, Air War College, 325 Chennault Circle, Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6427. 1. Military Ethics 1. Throughout the book, I use the term soldier as generic shorthand for any member of the armed services: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. 2. Like the word politics, the word ethics usually takes a singular verb. 3. Quoted in Time, 29 June 1981, 48. 4. One response to this, "proving" God's existence, is the idea that because we are finite beings with obviously limited minds, we could not even conceive of the idea of infinity unless he who is infinite suggested his being to us. Therefore, in telling us about his existence, God proved that existence to us. 5. Lucius Garvin, A Modern Introduction to Ethics (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1953), 2 (original emphasis). Another definition I like is that ofJ. Elliot Ross, Christian Ethics (New York: Devin-Adair, 1948), 29: "the moral rectitude of human acts considered in the light of natural reason." 6. Quoted in Ivan Hill, Common Sense and Everyday Ethics (Washington , D.C.: Ethics Resource Center, 1980), 5. 7. Garvin, A Modern Introduction to Ethics, 4-5n. 8. The Teaching of Ethics in Higher Education (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Hastings Center, 1980), 13. See also David Solomon, Ethics: A Brief Introduction (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984), 2: ''Ethics is that part of philosophy which is concerned with living well, being a good person, doing the right thing, and wanting the right things in life." 9. WT. Jones et al., eds., Approaches to Ethics (New York: McGrawHill , 1977), 1. 10. Cal Thomas, syndicated column, Montgomery Advertiser, 14 Dec. 156 NOTES TO PAGES 12-16 1992, 8A. See also Midge Decter, "Homosexuality and the Schools," Commentary, March 1993, 19-25. 11. Thomas Sowell, Inside American Education: The Decline, the Deception , the Dogmas (New York: Free Press, 1993). See also "Race on Campus ," U.S. News...