The 2024 CGSC Military Ethics Symposium was conducted April 2, 2024. CAC Ethicist Training was conducted on April 3.
The 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.
If you are not able to attend Day 1 (Ethics Symposium) or Day 2 (CAC Ethicist Training) there will be a live stream of the days’ events that occur in Marshall Auditorium. Once the events are over we will publish new links to the recordings. – See the links below for audio/video or audio/call-in only. You do not need to register on this site if you plan to use these live-broadcast links 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.
Downloads and other resources
• 2024 Ethics Symposium Program Overview (as of March 5) Includes the overall schedule, keynote and panel summaries/biographies, and the breakout summaries/biographies
• 2024 Ethics Symposium Breakout Sessions Schedule
Please note: Non-DoD ID card holders should review the Visitor Control Center gate information web page for information on how to enter post.
– REGISTRATION IS CLOSED –
Live Stream Links
Ethics Symposium 2024 – Day 1, Morning Period – Marshall Auditorium
0815-0820 Welcome and Introduction – Chaplain (Col.) Sean Wead
0820-0920 “The Army Moral Leader” – remarks by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Chris Hughes, Chair, CGSC Foundation
0920-0940 Break
0940-1040 “The Moral Warrior” – remarks by Dr. Shannon French, CGSC Foundation Distinguished Visiting Chair of Ethics
Use this Guest Link for live video/audio of the morning period events listed above:
https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/a8d82c4ccdd8405bb30a6f17c4a0316c
Use this “Guest Phone” for audio only: +1-571-392-7650 PIN: 566 658 4791
Ethics Symposium 2024 – Day 1, Afternoon Period – Marshall Auditorium
1300-1445 Keynote address: opening remarks by Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle, Commanding General, Combined Arms Center. Keynote address, “Beyond Moral Leadership: Ethics, Technology and Relationality,” by Dr. Pauline M. Shanks Kaurin, U.S. Naval War College
1500-1630 Special Topics Panel and Q&A – Dr. Shanks Kaurin, Dr. Jonathan Flint, Dr. Pete Kilner and Dr. Daniel Strand
1630-1645 Day 1 Concluding remarks by Chaplain (Maj.) Grimes and Chaplain (Col.) Wead
Use this Guest Link for live video/audio of the afternoon period events listed above:
https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/bae39986aa304628843f862e7240f844
Use this “Guest Phone” for audio only: +1-571-392-7650 PIN: 371 796 2026
CAC Ethicist Training 2024 – Day 2, Morning Period – Marshall Auditorium
Use this Guest Link for live video/audio of the morning period events: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/ecf0385fc1844b94ab9fbf06cf8faae7Guest
Use this “Guest Phone” for audio only: +1-571-392-7650 PIN: 665 123 5779
CAC Ethicist Training 2024 – Day 2, Afternoon Period – Marshall Auditorium
Use this Guest Link for live video/audio of the afternoon period events:
https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/69b6d5ee375e495c9498bf9a67f28617
Use this “Guest Phone” for audio only: +1-571-392-7650 PIN: 635 329 9183
