Ethics of War
Abstract
It's impossible to deny that even though Webster defines ethics as what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation; a set of moral principles or values; a theory or system of moral values; the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group; and a guiding philosophy, each individual in this world has their own interpretation of ethics both personally and professionally (www.webster.com. 2005). Interestingly enough some individuals even live their lives applying different ethics to each dimension of their life. One extremely debatable issue dealing with ethics is war. Is it just, necessary, ethical in the right form, or just plain wrong to resort to violence or harming another human being? As many definitions that exist for ethics, there are just as many if not more definitions for war. From one individual to another, or from country to country, war means different things and affects people in various ways. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, war should be understood as an actual, intentional, and widespread armed conflict between political communities. Thus, fisticuffs, between individual persons do not count as war, nor does a gang fight, nor does the feud on the order of the Hatfields versus the McCoys. War is a violent way for determining who gets to say what goes on in any given territory, for example, regarding: who gets power, who gets wealth and resources, whose ideals prevail, who is a member and who is not, which laws get made, what gets taught in schools, where the border rests, how much tax is levied and so on. (plato.Stanford.edu, 2005).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 16, 2005
- Accession Number
- AD1111445
Entities
People
- Richard E. Jones
Organizations
- United States Army Sergeants Major Academy