Rethinking Military Virtue Ethics in an Age of Unmanned Weapons

Although most styles of military ethics are hybrids that draw on multiple ethical theories, they are usually based primarily on the model of Aristotelian virtue ethics. Virtue ethics is well-suited for regulating the conduct of soldiers who have to make quick decisions on the battlefield, but its applicability to military personnel is threatened by the growing use of unmanned weapon systems. These weapons disrupt virtue ethics’ institutional and cultural basis by changing what it means to display virtue and transforming the roles soldiers perform and the nature of the military profession itself. I argue that in light of these challenges to virtue ethics, at least as it is traditionally understood within the armed forces, soldiers operating unmanned weapons require a more heavily rule-based approach to military ethics.     

Xunzi on the Role of the Military in a Well-Ordered State

Chapter 15 of the Xunzi stands as the most comprehensive account of the early Confucian analysis of warfare. Unlike a range of other early, non-Confucian discussions on warfare, particular strategies and tactics are taken to be of secondary importance. Thus, Xunzi refuses to discuss practical military strategy without framing it within a much broader ethical, social, and political context. On his account, a well-ordered, flourishing state necessarily rests upon a particular set of rituals and social norms in which people can cultivate themselves morally. Such a state has nothing to fear from any enemy, no matter how tactically sophisticated or militarily skilled. To many, such a view seems overly optimistic. However, given that Xunzi is anything but Pollyannaish in other parts of the text and is quite pessimistic about human nature in general, it behooves us to dig a bit more deeply into his ideas about military affairs and examine whether they can be understood in a more plausible light. This article provides a reading of Xunzi’s views on military affairs that is internally consistent and corresponds with Xunzi’s broader ethical and political views, while also showing why someone of Xunzi’s obvious intellectual acumen might hold such a view.     

论生态价值视域下的思想政治教育

人与自然的关系在社会发展到今天,越来越得到人们的重视。以往的思想政治教育,人们总是把它的价值局限在政治价值、经济价值和文化价值上。高校的道德教育也是主要围绕如何处理人与人、集体和社会的关系等,而相对忽略了如何处理人与自然,包括人与其他生命体的关系的教育内容。正确认识人与自然的关系,对保护自然环境承担起责任,是当代大学生必须拥有的素质。     

线索效应对生态教学改革的诠释

本文从心理学、教育学交叉融合的视角,对选择性注意中线索效应和生态教学改革方面进行了综合探讨,旨在通过课堂活动、教学对象、教学方法方面阐述生态教学的理念,使线索效应在教学活动中充分体现其优势效应。介于此,本文以期在提高生态教学质量和教学效果的基础上,更好地发挥教师的主导作用,创建良好学习情境,积极开发学生的潜能,加强学生综合素质的培养,优化组合教学方法,达到和谐、健康的教学,使学科交叉相容的优势体现出良好的教学效果,为教育教学的改革提出新的参考性建议。     

伦理教育维度下工程院校校园网络文化构建

在工程院校网络文化构建中,充分发挥伦理教育功能是素质教育的重要内容。工程伦理教育作为人文教育与科技教育交叉结合的新学科,要求高校尤其是工程院校在网络文化构建中,确立科学的教育理念、正确的舆论导向,多学科交叉配合,培育学生树立社会责任感,正确的价值观、利益观和强烈的伦理道德意识。     

马克思生态文明思想对我国生态文明建设的启示

马克思生态文明思想阐明了人和自然的关系,要求人们要树立正确的生态意识,尊重自然,按客观规律办事,达到人与自然的和谐统一。这一充满智慧的生态文明思想,为人类走出生态危机、实现可持续发展提供了理论指导,对明确发展的科学内涵,完善生态文明建设制度体系,创造良好生态环境,具有重要的现实意义。     

浅议我国的生态旅游发展

本文阐述了生态旅游的内涵以及我国发展生态旅游的现状,提出了生态旅游发展中应注意的问题。     

生态润滑剂：可持续发展的必然选择

在介绍润滑剂对环境和健康危害的基础上阐明了发展生态润滑剂的重要性,指出改善矿物润滑剂生态效能、发展环境友好润滑剂是当前发展生态润滑剂的两个根本途径,必须加快矿物润滑剂的生态化进程,大力发展环境友好润滑剂,重视润滑剂的生态设计。     

What Sticks? The Evaluation of a Train-the-Trainer Course in Military Ethics and its Perceived Outcomes

Ethics training has become a common phenomenon in the training of military professionals at all levels. However, the perceived outcomes of this training remain open. In this article, we analyze the experiences of course participants who were interviewed 6–12 months after they had participated in a train-the-trainer course in military ethics developed by the Faculty of Military Sciences of the Netherlands Defence Academy. Through qualitative inductive analysis, it is shown how participants evaluate the training, how they perceive the development of their moral competence, and how they see the impact of the training on their own training practice.     

The Normative Implications of “Knowing the Future” for Preventive War

What if claims about the future informed us about the intentions and the capabilities of our opponents to wage war against ourselves? Would and should the existing norms that restrict the preventive use of force change in the wake of such transformation? This article highlights the potential normative consequences of this change and discriminates between several possible normative evolutions. Would and should the “knowability of the future” alter radically the traditional rule of self-defense? This rule could indeed be jeopardized but, as I argue in this paper, it should not (and might not necessarily). However, the distinction between preemption and prevention could become obsolete. Future claims about security will also induce new security doctrines as knowledge about the future would be used to signal one’s intentions and deter one’s opponent. This change would also have a significant impact on accountability, as citizens would have a more active role in discussions over foreign policy. Moreover, new modes of predictions and forecasting will challenge the traditional role of experts whose biases have hampered their analyses and anticipations. Thus, trustworthy future claims could bring significant progress in both ethical and political terms as they would trigger a debate on the role of knowledge in democratic societies.