CGSC Military Ethics Symposium 2024

CGSC Military Ethics Symposium
April 2, 2024
Theme:

Ethical Character in Modern Warfare: Human and Non-Human in Tension

The 21st century is witnessing a rapid confluence of the human and non-human dimensions of our lived experience, in which the unparalleled influence of modern technology on the political, social, cultural, and religious dimensions of human society poses ever evolving ethical challenges to the modern warfighter. To be effective stewards of the military profession, leaders must not only understand how to navigate such challenges for the ethical conduct of war, but also understand how these evolving challenges influence and shape the ethical character of the modern warfighter.

All attendees must register at the link below.
Before clicking the link, please review the schedule and the breakout session information in the Program Overview document below in order to complete the registration process.

Also, please note that CGSC is currently working to get a Blackboard link established for the Live-Broadcast option.  On Blackboard you will be able to watch all of the main events via a link (to be published), and will not need to register on this site if you plan to use the live-broadcast via Blackboard.

Keynote Address:
Beyond Moral Leadership: Ethics, Technology and Relationality

presented by Dr. Pauline M. Shanks Kaurin, U.S. Naval War College

Discussions on the ethical implications of certain technologies are not new. Whether it is nuclear weaponry, non/less than lethal weapons, AI, drones, uncrewed platforms, warfare in space or cyberwarfare, there is significant and deep literature on the intersection of ethics and technology.

Our keynote address will take a different route, inviting the audience into a reflective journey exploring ethics and technology, broadly construed. Beginning with ADM James B. Stockdale and considering his famous observation (upon being shot down in Vietnam) that he was “…entering Epictetus’ world,” we will examine the nature and use of technology in the national security sphere.  We will think about the need to go beyond Moral Leadership and develop capacities of Ethical Leadership, outlining an approach in terms of power, relationality, and context.  This reflective journey will ask us all to reframe and examine assumptions, values, and approaches to the current discourse on ethics and technology, with the aim of providing insights and leaving us with questions to ponder as we consider what matters most for the ethical character of the modern warfighter.

Pauline Shanks Kaurin holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Temple University, specializing in military ethics, just war theory, and applied ethics. She serves as the Stockdale Chair and Professor of Professional Military Ethics at the US Naval War College in the College of Leadership and Ethics. She also holds a bachelor’s in Philosophy and International Relations from Concordia College, Minnesota, and a master’s in Philosophy from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.

Recent publications include: “When Less is not More: Expanding the Combatant/Non-Combatant Distinction”; “With Fear and Trembling: A Qualified Defense of Non-Lethal Weapons”; Achilles Goes Asymmetrical: The Warrior, Military Ethics and Contemporary Warfare (Routledge 2014); and On Obedience: Contrasting Philosophies for Military, Citizenry and Community (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2020.). Current works in progress include an account of military honor rooted in Ethics of Care and a book on Stoic philosophies.

She was Featured Contributor for The Strategy Bridge and has published in Clear Defense, The Wavell Room, Newsweek, War on the Rocks, Grounded Curiosity, US Naval Institute Proceedings, Just Security, as well as a variety of academic journals. She lives in Rhode Island.