2014 Ethics Symposium Archive

The 2015 Fort Leavenworth Ethics Symposium was conducted May 5-8, 2014.

The 2014 theme:

Professional Ethics and Personal Morality

The 2014 ethics symposium sought to broaden the dialogue surrounding the Professional Military Ethic – to discuss the contemporary ethical issues facing our Soldiers and leaders at all echelons of our Army and to look into what the future may possibly hold. The future we face is rife with questions that need to be discussed now. In an era of constrained resources, deliberate moral reflection is required and military forces must consider quantitatively and qualitatively how to affect the battlefield. How do we negotiate our personal beliefs which may conflict with professional requirements of the military? How do we develop ethical Soldiers from a fragmented social society? Other issues to consider will include the use of technology, Special Forces instead of conventional forces, the use of proxy fighters, as well as our moral obligations to the profession of arms and to the society we serve. Answers to these questions and many more don’t come easy. They are developed over time as the discussions surrounding them continue to evolve. This ethics symposium is meant to be an avenue of intellectual discourse and awareness – a path to a better understanding of the ethics of the Profession of Arms.

Downloads and other resources

• 2014 Ethics Symposium Schedule

• 2014 Ethics Symposium Program – Includes the agenda, panel and breakout session summaries, guest speaker and panel member biographies and other details.

2014 Papers and Presentations

Background reading requirement- Center for the Army Profession and Ethic (CAPE) –
America’s Army: Our Profession
Army Ethic White Paper (CAPE draft-10MAR14)
Ethics Symposium Read Ahead (ppt presentation)

Personal Morality and Professional Ethics: Overcoming the Division (Symposium Introduction paper)
Daniel M. Bell, Jr. – General Hugh Shelton Chair in Ethics

Clashing Moral Civilizations: Why is Relativism a Threat to the Military? (paper)
Daniel M. Bell, Jr. – General Hugh Shelton Chair in Ethics

Uprooting the Culture of Sexual Assault of the Armed Forces through a Gender Aware Perspective (paper)
Cheryl Abbate

Our Profession of Arms: Ethical Principles in the 21st Century Army (abstract & paper)
David K. Beavers

Developing Good Soldiers: The Problem of Fragmentation within the Army (paper)- Note: This link goes to an external website where the article must be purchased ($39) before download.
Paul T. Berghaus and Nathan L. Cartagena

Just War in Combat Boots (abstract & paper)
Mike Burgess

Spiritual Dormancy: the Strategic Effect of the Depravation of God (abstract & paper)
James G. Erbach

Adaptive Disclosure: Critique of a Descriptive Intervention Modified for the Normative Problem of Moral Injury in Combat Veterans (abstract & paper)
Paul D. Fritts

The Strategogia: A (Newly Recovered) Socratic Dialogue (abstract & paper)
Prisco Hernandez

Character Development of U.S. Army Leaders: The Laissez-Faire Approach (paper previously published in the Sept-Oct 2013 edition of Military Review) Abstract
Brian M. Michelson

Moral Injury and the American Service Member:
What Leaders Don’t Talk About When They Talk About War (abstract & paper)
Douglas A. Pryer

The Importance of Unit Climate in Effecting Moral Injury (abstract & paper) – Note: Paper not available online.
Rhonda Quillin

Ethics and the “Professionalization” of the U.S. Military
James E. Roper

Bigelow’s Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty: Virtue Ethics and the War on Terror (paper)
Matthew Shadle

A Soldier’s Morality, Religion, and Our Professional Ethic:
Does the Army’s Culture Facilitate Integration, Character Development, and Trust in the Profession? (paper published by the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute)
Alexander Shine and Don M. Snider

Stewardship and the Retired Senior Leader: Toward a New Professional Ethic (paper)
George R. Smawley

Finding Inspiration (abstract & paper)
George M. Stephenson