Torture and the Military Profession

Torture and the Military Profession

Torture and the Military Profession Jessica Wolfendale Research Fellow Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics Department of Philosophy University of Melbourne, Australia

Jessica Wolfendale 2007 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-0-230-00182-4 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-28016-2 DOI 10.1057/9780230592803 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wolfendale, Jessica, 1973- Torture and the military profession / Jessica Wolfendale. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Military ethics. 2. Torture. I. Title. U22.W64 2007 172.42 dc22 2007016442 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 ISBN 978-0-230-59280-3 (ebook)

Contents Preface Acknowledgements vii viii Introduction 1 1 Professions and Professional Ethics 7 What is a profession? 7 The moral importance of professional status 10 Professional roles and professional morality 11 Grounding moral permissions 17 Professional morality as part of broad-based morality 23 Conclusion 26 2 Virtue Ethics and Professional Roles 28 Virtue ethics and dispositional rule-consequentialism 29 Aristotelian virtue ethics 31 The regulative ideal of professional roles 36 Professional virtues 38 Professional integrity and conscientious objection 43 Conclusion 46 3 Professional Ethics and the Military 47 Is the military a profession? 48 The criteria of a profession 49 The military as agent of the civilian authority 55 Virtue ethics and the military profession 59 Professional integrity in the military 71 Conclusion 76 4 Obedience in the Military 77 Crimes of obedience 77 The virtue of obedience 78 Obedience as a religious virtue 86 Obedience in the nursing profession 87 The limits of military obedience 90 Conclusion 96 v

vi Contents 5 Military Torture 98 Psychological and physical torture 100 Arguments for and against the use of torture 103 The problem: real fighters versus ideal fighters 116 Obedience versus integrity: Captain Rockwood in Haiti 120 Conclusion 126 6 Military Training and Moral Agency 127 Military training and moral agency 128 Creating obedient killers 134 Rhetoric vs reality 140 Human nature and military training 142 Military training and the dispositions of destructive obedience 155 Ordinary military personnel and torturers 159 Conclusion 160 7 The Moral Psychology of Torture 161 The torturer 161 Dehumanization 170 The profession of torture 172 Moral responsiblity and the professionalization of torture 177 Conclusion 182 Conclusion 184 Notes 193 Selected Bibliography 228 Index 237

Preface This book developed out of research undertaken for my PhD thesis at Monash University. There are many people I would like to thank for their support and encouragement during the writing of this book. I am deeply indebted to Jeanette Kennett and Justin Oakley, my supervisors at Monash University, who provided constant guidance and encouragement throughout the writing process. Both Justin and Jeanette provided detailed and incisive feedback at all stages of writing, helping me to refine and develop my arguments. Dirk Baltzly undertook the daunting task of reading the entire work from beginning to end, and his input and insights were invaluable. Michael Walzer and Garrett Cullity kindly provided perceptive and helpful suggestions for refining the arguments in this book. Early versions of some of the chapters of this book were read to several audiences over the last few years. I received extremely useful comments from the staff and students at Monash University, the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, and from two anonymous reviewers at Social Theory and Practice. The feedback I received contributed greatly to the writing of this book. I also wish to express my heartfelt appreciation and thanks to my mother Lynne for her unfailing love and support, my sister Zoë for her great forbearance and kindness, Trish for her constant love and encouragement, and Dan for his patience and support during the final months of writing. JESSICA WOLFENDALE vii

Acknowledgements Sections of the following chapters draw on previously published material, as indicated. Permission to adapt and use parts of that material has been kindly granted by the publishers, as noted. I would also like to thank David Owens for allowing me to refer to his unpublished paper The Authority of Practical Judgement. Chapter 4, Chapter 6: Military Obedience: Rhetoric and Reality, in Igor Primoratz (ed.), Politics and Morality (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Copyright Palgrave Macmillan 2006. Chapter 5, Chapter 7: Training Torturers: A Critique of the Ticking Bomb Argument, Social Theory and Practice, 32 (2006): 269 87. Copyright 2006 by the Department of Philosophy, Florida State University. Chapter 7: Stoic Warriors and Stoic Torturers: The Moral Psychology of Military Torture, South African Journal of Philosophy, 25 (2006): 62 77. Copyright 2006 by the Philosophical Society of Southern Africa. Publication of this work was assisted by a publication grant from the University of Melbourne. viii