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Journal of Military Ethics

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George R. Lucas, Jr. & W. Rick Rubel's (Eds) Ethics
and the Military Profession: The Moral Foundations
of Leadership and Case Studies in Military Ethics
Susan Martinelli-Fernandez a
a
College of Arts and Sciences, Western Illinois University, Macamb, IL, USA

Online Publication Date: 01 November 2005

To cite this Article: Martinelli-Fernandez, Susan (2005) 'George R. Lucas, Jr. & W.
Rick Rubel's (Eds) Ethics and the Military Profession: The Moral Foundations of
Leadership and Case Studies in Military Ethics', Journal of Military Ethics, 4:3,
214 - 219
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 Journal of Military Ethics,
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Vol. 4, No. 3, 214
219, 2005

/

BOOK DISCUSSION

George R. Lucas, Jr. & W. Rick

Rubel’s (Eds) Ethics and the Military
Profession: The Moral Foundations
of Leadership and Case Studies
in Military Ethics
SUSAN MARTINELLI-FERNANDEZ
College of Arts and Sciences, Western Illinois University, Macamb, IL, USA

Questions about ethics within the professions abound in twenty-first century

boardrooms, chat rooms, living rooms, war rooms, and, most importantly,
classrooms. Advances in technology specific to professions, as well as in the
media’s ability to provide up-to-the minute news to the public, have made
accountability and integrity uncompromising key values that must be upheld
and promoted in business, medicine, and the military. Yet, can we be sure that
these values are indeed present and operative in such venues? Can the
professions assure us that their members have good character and will do the
right thing, even if it means risking censure or loss of livelihood, liberty, or
even life? Answering these questions requires a consideration of still other
questions. What does being a good human being and performing actions that
are deemed to be right require? Should we invoke an Aristotelian distinction
between eu zen (to live well) and eu prattein (to do well) and tell ourselves that
there can be no real meaningful connection between who we are and what we
do? Or might we see that, ultimately, we cannot escape the obligation both to
live well and to do well?
Doing well and living well are deeply embedded values, goals and
objectives in the military. Its members are trained in mind, body and spirit
to embrace, develop, and act upon core values of duty, honor, valor, and
loyalty. The education of its leaders requires well-designed courses in ethics as
well as in military tactics and history, for decision-making is not limited to
deliberations about what is militarily required to win a battle or a war. The
means matter as well as the ends. Peacekeeping and peacemaking have
become an important part of current curricula and respected canon, in

Correspondence Address: College of Arts and Sciences, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL 61455-
1390, USA. Tel: /1 309 298-1828; Fax: /1 309 298-2585; Email: [email protected]

1502-7570 Print/1502-7589 Online/05/03000214
/6 # 2005 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/15027570500197453
 Book Discussion 215
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addition to the arts and sciences of war. Officers are educated to be men and
women of sense and merit as well as honorable warriors.
Lucas’s and Rubel’s texts can be understood as the means to help achieve
the above ends. They are the product of over ten years of crafting, born out of
a need to produce course materials for a ‘single, coherent course organized
around topics in professional military ethics’ (xv). As the course evolved,
questions concerning the multi-dimensional and overlapping goals of any
course in military ethics arose. This two-volume set de facto provided the
answer, for it mediated between ‘two radically different conceptions of how
such a course should be taught’. It provided a middle course ‘organized
around topics in professional military ethics, driven by a case-study approach
to the topic in which moral philosophy was introduced as a response,
providing vital analytical resources to approach problems in practical
reasoning, rather than a random survey conducted for its own sake without
reference to use or application’ (xv).
This two-volume set is a marvelous example of collaborative efforts
between resident and visiting faculty who have been responsible for creating,
improving and teaching the course. Few texts can claim to have the kind of
scholarly as well as practical input and contributions that Lucas and Rubel’s
work provides, including philosopher Nancy Sherman, political scientist
Michael Walzer, and military officers Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, USN,
and Colonel Paul E. Roush, USMC (Retired). Further, few texts have actually
been so well tested in the classroom.
The articles in the first volume on military ethics and moral philosophy are
distributed among seven parts. These parts are ‘Why Study Ethics?’, ‘The
Moral Framework of Military Service’, ‘Traditions of Moral Reasoning in
Western Culture’, ‘The Moral Role of the Military Professional in Interna-
tional Relations’. ‘Upholding Truth, Enforcing Justice’, ‘Defending Truth,
Enforcing Justice, Defending Liberty and Rights’, ‘Moral Leaders and Moral
Warriors’, and a concluding section ‘Epilogue’. Lucas and Rubel’s text does
not place artificial boundaries between the academic philosopher and the
professional soldier/scholar. Classical works of philosophical ethics and
works explicitly devoted to military service, activity, and ethics stand shoulder
to shoulder rather than being relegated to their own particular intellectual
ghetto.
Each part is a self-contained overview of one aspect of learning about
ethical behavior and conduct within traditional philosophical and military
frameworks. Introductory remarks at the beginning of each section place the
articles within an intellectual and historical context. They provide guidance
for readers to navigate each discrete article so that it may be understood as
part of that section’s particular conversation as well as contributing to the
overall project of educating military leaders in ethical decision-making and
the qualities required for the development of moral character.
‘Why Study Ethics?’ is an honest, engaging introduction to the challenges
of studying ethics in general as well as in the context of the military
profession. Reasons and not apologies are offered for the difficulty of finding
answers to complex ethical problems, in the editors’ introduction to the
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section’s articles. The actual, recorded text of a brief inspirational speech

given by a British commanding officer to his troops just prior to the onset of
the March 2003 war in Iraq sets the stage for the next two articles. An excerpt
from Plato’s Republic (‘The Ring of Gyges’) requires the reader to reflect on
why s/he should be moral at all, exploring self-interest, integrity, and
individual character. The next article by Captain Thomas B. Grassey, ‘Why
Ethics is So Hard’, contributes to these reflections through thoughtful
discussions of the ‘practicality’ of ethics and the need for ethical reasoners to
distinguish between their individual and collective obligations and duties and
how one might solve, if not avoid, inevitable conflict between them.
Part Two, ‘The Moral Framework of Military Service’, is divided into three
sections: ‘The Relativity of Moral Beliefs and Situations’, ‘The U.S.
Constitution and the Moral Foundations of Military Service: Conflicts of
Principles and Loyalties’, and ‘Religion and Military Ethics’. Articles in this
part articulate the moral challenge intrinsically unique to the military
profession; viz., knowing that duty will sometimes require its members to
deliberate about and engage in acts that will physically and psychologically
harm other human beings as well as destroy private and public property.
Further, the role of moral principles and ethical values in justifying such acts
is explored.
The next part, ‘Traditions of Moral Reasoning’, explores four canonical
theoretical approaches to philosophical ethics: Utilitarianism, which deems
an action morally acceptable if its results create the greatest good for the
greatest number of people; Kantianism, which sees morality in actions that
are freely performed out of a sense of duty as well as respect for persons and
the Moral Law; Aristotelian virtue ethics, which is understood as an
approach to ethics which helps people to perform good actions, lead good
lives, and develop good habits of mind and moral character; and Natural Law
Tradition, which sees morality as emanating from certain fundamental moral
truths found in human experience and reflection that are intellectually
available to all people because of their rational natures. Specific readings are
well chosen and represent some of the best and most lucid discussions about
theory in the field of moral philosophy.
Part Four is on ‘The Moral Role of the Military Professional in
International Relations’, with sections on ‘The Justification for Going to
War’ and ‘The Moral Code of the Warrior’. It surveys historical foundations
of the ‘just war tradition’, exploring reasons for and justification of going to
war and appropriate conduct for those engaging in military activity. Articles
include an excerpt from St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica, exploring
specific criteria that must be met for a war to be morally acceptable-legitimate
authority, just cause, and right intentions. The introductory discussion at the
beginning of Part Four and subsequent articles offer additional considera-
tions that clarify and extend these criteria, explicating current thinking on
conditions required for a war to be deemed ‘just’. The second section’s
introductory remarks offer an account of the historical evolution of what is
considered ‘the moral code of the warrior’, exploring the tensions between
‘the Law of War’ and ‘the Code of the Warrior’. Earlier chapters’ queries
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concerning the challenge of negotiating (if not resolving) inevitable conflicts

between individuals’ obligations and duties to self, others, their particular
professions, and to their country are explicitly explored.
Part Five, ‘Upholding Truth, Enforcing Justice, Defending Liberty and
Rights’, elaborates on the moral concepts, ideas, and ideals that have been
previously invoked regarding reasons for the appropriateness of and
permissibility for exercise of military force. Such concepts include ‘justice’,
‘liberty’, ‘rights’, and ‘truth’. Historical writings such as ‘On Liberty’ by John
Stuart Mill and ‘The Reflections on the Revolution in France’, by Edmund
Burke are provided along with more contemporary writings including James
W. Nickel’s ‘Human Rights’ and Gerald Dworkin’s ‘Paternalism’. The
concluding discussion of ‘Upholding the Truth’, along with its companion
article ‘When is the ‘‘Whole Truth’’ Attainable?’ by Sissela Bok, explore
when, if ever, lying is ethically justifiable and how prohibitions against lying
can be reconciled with situations that require some kind of deception.
Part Six, ‘Moral Leaders and Moral Warriors’, reflects and invites readers’
reflections upon the connection between moral theory, concepts, and
principles and their connection to the military profession and its practice.
Articles in this part include two works authored by Vice Admiral James B.
Stockdale, USN, ‘Courage under Fire’ and ‘A Vietnam Experience, Duty’, as
well as Epictetus’s ‘The Enchiridion’, and a discussion about Roman
Stoicism, which is an excerpt from Shannon French’s seminal work The
Code of the Warrior. The last article by Colonel Paul E. Roush, USMC
(Retired), is a discussion of Admiral Stockdale’s leadership model. Most
importantly, the question posed in Part One, ‘Why Study Ethics?’ is now
answered. The exemplary experience of Commander James B. Stockdale-the
story of the Commander’s imprisonment and his reliance on Stoic philosophy,
with its emphasis on strength of character and an inner faith, for his physical,
emotional, and spiritual survival-serves as an inspiring example of the moral
exemplar of the honorable soldier. Further, it allows readers to synthesize
what they have learned from previous articles. Philosophy is made practical,
with military service becoming the ideal that is actually realized through
education and experience.
The companion volume, Case Studies in Military Ethics (CSME), is a
unique case study anthology that furthers the editors’ project of helping
others to teach a theoretically and practically unified course in military ethics.
Actual ‘war stories’ and ‘sea stories’, are given additional ‘structure and
context’ that provide officers with the necessary tools to engage in effective
reasoning and deliberation about real ethical challenges and ‘help to clarify
the core values and traditions of the military profession itself’ (CSME, x).
Case studies are organized into five chapters: ‘The Ethical Dimensions of
Command’, ‘The Moral Dilemmas of Modern Warfare’, ‘Ethics within the
Military Profession’, ‘Religious and the Military’, and ‘Equality, Justice and
the Law’. The first appendix provides additional information about some of
the case studies that initially provided readers, ‘only with the knowledge and
information and perspective that the original participant possessed at that
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time’. The second appendix provides a summary of ‘The Geneva Conventions

for the Protection of War Victims’.
One example of a case study is ‘Leave No One Behind’.1 This study details
the professional and ethical challenges faced by Commanding Officer of
Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron NINE (HS-9), CDR James ‘Fox’ Davis.
CDR Davis had to decide whether to send out a second flight crew to search
for (and hopefully save) another flight crew, who had been sent to save a man
overboard from the USS Mahan in the North Atlantic during adverse
weather conditions. Suggested questions following the case study lead readers
through the activity of moral deliberation. ‘What do you need to ask to
consider to make this decision?’ and ‘What is your primary consideration?’
have us specify the facts of the dilemma as well as potential options. These
questions also require that we articulate the goals of these options and the
means to achieve those goals. Other questions have readers explore available
options and then determine the kind of reasoning that has been employed to
arrive at the chosen course of action. Does the reasoning emphasize
obligations of self-preservation? Does such reasoning highlight tensions
between one’s specified duties as an officer and obligations arising from
friendship? Another example of a thought-provoking case is ‘Acting on
Conscience: Captain Lawrence Rockwood in Haiti’,2 in which potential
conflicts between professional duty, personal conscience, and the opposing
forces of constitutional authority and civilian control are explored.
Each volume is a self-contained examination of discussions central to the
understanding of military ethics and leadership and easily can be used as
independent textual resources; however, together they provide a comprehen-
sive intellectual methodology and practical content that few texts in the field
of applied and practical ethics have achieved. The collaboration of the
Officer, Captain W. Rick Rubel and the Philosopher, Dr. George R. Lucas,
Jr., has resulted in a body of work that possesses a moral and intellectual
integrity and fineness of the highest caliber. Together, these volumes provide a
moral compass that will guide young officers through the ethical challenges of
military leadership, which require them to do good for others as well as to do
well and live well themselves.

Notes
1
Rubel, W. R. (2004) Leave No One Behind, Journal of Military Ethics, 3(3), pp. 252-256.
2
Wrage, S. (2002) Captain Lawrence Rockwood in Haiti, Journal of Military Ethics, 1(1), pp. 45-52.

References
Lucas, G. R. & Rubel, W. R. (Eds) (2005) Ethics and the Military Profession: The Moral Foundations of
Leadership (Boston, MA: Pearson Education).
Rubel, W. R. & Lucas, G. R. (Eds) (2005) Case Studies in Military Ethics (Boston, MA: Pearson
Education).
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Biography
Susan A. Martinelli-Fernandez (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is
Professor of Philosophy and an Associate Dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences at Western Illinois University. She teaches courses in applied ethics,
ethical theory, feminism, and philosophy and literature and has delivered
papers in these areas. She received the 2004-2005 College of Arts and Sciences
Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award. Her many publications cover topics
such as Kant, Hume, feminism, business ethics and reproductive issues, and
she participated in a prestigious June 2004 US National Endowment for the
Humanities Summer Institute on ‘War and Morality’.