Chapter

Educating for ethical behaviour ? : preparing military leaders for ethical challenges

David W. Lovell

Protecting civilians during violent conflict : theoretical and practical issues for the 21st century

Farnham ; Burlington : Ashgate, 2012

p 141-157

English

At a fundamental level, Rules of Engagement (ROE) must be applied and - just as crucially - understood by soldiers. David Lovell examines the ways in which we educate officers for the challenges of ethical combat. Because Lovell believes that a philosophical approach to ethics alone is insufficient, he advocates a broad education in history and literature in order that officers might have some sense of what is like on the battlefield ; and because the battlefield itself, as others report it, is chaotic, frightening, exhilarating and exhausting, the intellectual appreciation of it alone might not be enough. Lovell argues that combatants making ethically appropriate decisions in the theatre of war is important both for their own sense of proper purpose and for the ultimate resolution of a war, which is more than simply military, especially where the conflict is an insurgency. Drawing on the experience of recent conflicts, his chapter examines the preparedness of Australian officers for the ethical dilemmas of combat.

• Protecting civilians during violent conflict : theoretical and practical issues for the 21st century / ed. by David W. Lovell, Igor Primoratz