Journal of Military Ethics 

About: Journal of Military Ethics is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Just war theory & Military medical ethics. It has an ISSN identifier of 1502-7570. Over the lifetime, 485 publications have been published receiving 5232 citations. The journal is also known as: JME.

Moral Predators: The Duty to Employ Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles

Abstract: A variety of ethical objections have been raised against the military employment of uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs, drones). Some of these objections are technological concerns over UAVs abilities’ to function on par with their inhabited counterparts. This paper sets such concerns aside and instead focuses on supposed objections to the use of UAVs in principle. I examine several such objections currently on offer and show them all to be wanting. Indeed, I argue that we have a duty to protect an agent engaged in a justified act from harm to the greatest extent possible, so long as that protection does not interfere with the agent's ability to act justly. UAVs afford precisely such protection. Therefore, we are obligated to employ UAV weapon systems if it can be shown that their use does not significantly reduce a warfighter's operational capability. Of course, if a given military action is unjustified to begin with, then carrying out that act via UAVs is wrong, just as it would be with any weap...

The Case for Ethical Autonomy in Unmanned Systems

Abstract: The underlying thesis of the research in ethical autonomy for lethal autonomous unmanned systems is that they will potentially be capable of performing more ethically on the battlefield than are human soldiers. In this article this hypothesis is supported by ongoing and foreseen technological advances and perhaps equally important by an assessment of the fundamental ability of human warfighters in today's battlespace. If this goal of better-than-human performance is achieved, even if still imperfect, it can result in a reduction in noncombatant casualties and property damage consistent with adherence to the Laws of War as prescribed in international treaties and conventions, and is thus worth pursuing vigorously.

Saying ‘No!’ to Lethal Autonomous Targeting

Abstract: Plans to automate killing by using robots armed with lethal weapons have been a prominent feature of most US military forces’ roadmaps since 2004. The idea is to have a staged move from ‘man-in-the-loop’ to ‘man-on-the-loop’ to full autonomy. While this may result in considerable military advantages, the policy raises ethical concerns with regard to potential breaches of International Humanitarian Law, including the Principle of Distinction and the Principle of Proportionality. Current applications of remote piloted robot planes or drones offer lessons about how automated weapons platforms could be misused by extending the range of legally questionable, targeted killings by security and intelligence forces. Moreover, the alleged moral disengagement by remote pilots will only be exacerbated by the use of autonomous robots. Leaders in the international community need to address the difficult legal and moral issues now, before the current mass proliferation of development reaches fruition.

Character Psychology and Character Education

Abstract: This collection of essays provides new perspectives on the nature of character and moral education by utilizing insights from the disciplines of moral psychology, moral philosophy, and education. The volume draws from personality and developmental research as well as educational and ethical theory. Character Psychology and Character Education distinguishes itself by bringing moral philosophers, who believe that ethical reflection about virtue and character must be tied to defensible notions of personality and selfhood, into dialogue with academic psychologists, who believe that the developmental study of the moral self requires adequate grounding in various psychological literatures. The first group embraces a "naturalized" ethics, while the second group favors a "psychologized" morality. Among the topics explored in this volume are the constructs of moral selfhood, personality, and identity, as well as defensible models of character education. One of the primary arguments of the volume is that problems of character education cannot be addressed until an adequate model of character psychology is developed. In addition to the excellent theoretical essays, this collection includes applied chapters that consider the challenge of character education in the context of schools, families, and organized sports. This book will be an invaluable resource both for scholars and practitioners in the fields of psychology and education.

The Ethics of Cyberwarfare

Abstract: The paper addresses several issues in the morality of cyberwar and cyberwarfare, defined as one nation's attacks on the governmental or civilian information systems of another nation. It sketches the diverse technical ways in which an attack may occur, including denial-of-service attacks and the insertion of various forms of malware. It argues that existing international law and widely discussed principles of Just War Theory do not straightforwardly apply to cyberwarfare, and many forms of cyberwarfare differ from previous forms of warfare in neither injuring nor killing human beings, nor causing lasting physical damage – but can nevertheless cause serious harm to a nation's vital interests. Another dissimilarity with traditional warfare is in the degree of knowledge of the identity of an attacker (the ‘attribution problem’). The paper argues that cyberwarfare is not amenable to regulation by international pacts and that we can expect long periods of low-level, multilateral cyberwarfare, a Cyber ...