Posted on Jul 20, 2017
Are Situational Ethics ever warranted for Officers or NCO?
7.24K
66
37
7
7
0
Officers
Ethics
NCOs
Responses: 15
1
1
0
0
0
0
I know it may not be right but there may actually be times when it could be ok in my opinion. Like in this movie. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_of_Engagement_(film)
Rules of Engagement (film) - Wikipedia
Rules of Engagement is a 2000 American war film directed by William Friedkin, written by Jim Webb and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson plays U.S. Marine Colonel Terry Childers, who is brought to court-martial after men under Childers' orders kill a large number of civilians outside the U.S. embassy in Yemen.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
Ethics are subjective and individual, so really ethics are always unique and situational.
(0)
(0)
LTC Orlando Illi
You cite the basic premise behind Machiavelli's The Prince. If there are no moral absolutes, then ethics are situational and the ends are always justifed by the means
(0)
(0)
SFC Michael Hasbun
I'm more inclined to say the ends are justified by the victor who gets to write the history book and determine future perspective...
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
This is a very interesting question. Obviously the question "does the end justify the means?" is meant to be debated. In that context, no. The road to hell is paved in good intentions. That's not to say I don't recognize grey areas, as there are plenty in life. If you're asking whether or not a person should sacrifice ethics or morals, I can say no. As to laws or other rules, that is a different story. For instance, Jim Crow laws were wrong and needed to be challenged sometimes the challenges were in and of themselves violations of the law. No morals or ethics were violated by breaking those laws.
So my question back to you is, do you believe that violating rules or laws are a breach of ethics or morals? Follow up question, can following the law be a violation of ethics or morals?
So my question back to you is, do you believe that violating rules or laws are a breach of ethics or morals? Follow up question, can following the law be a violation of ethics or morals?
(0)
(0)
LTC Orlando Illi
To answer your question: Laws in any society are defined as a body of rules of conduct with commensurate binding legal force and effect, prescribed, recognized, and enforced by a controlling authority as proscribed by a particular society. In U.S. law they are codified by Federal, State and Local statues. A violation of law can be defined a either a willful or non willful act that fails to abide by existing law. I believe that a willful violation of a law is a violation of both societal mores swell as ones personal ethics.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
I'd also like to throw out for thought "Operation Paperclip" where we brought in German Nazis to develop critical pieces of technology for the U.S.
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-58-no-3/operation-paperclip-the-secret-intelligence-program-to-bring-nazi-scientists-to-america.html
Also, after WWII we intentionally allowed Japan to sweep their war crimes under the rug in exchange for the data and results from their inhuman experiments conducted on the Chinese. The information we gained from this agreement played a large role in defense against chemical and biological agents but also played a large role in the forward progression of the medical field and provided a better understanding of the human body.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1616555.Unit_731
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-58-no-3/operation-paperclip-the-secret-intelligence-program-to-bring-nazi-scientists-to-america.html
Also, after WWII we intentionally allowed Japan to sweep their war crimes under the rug in exchange for the data and results from their inhuman experiments conducted on the Chinese. The information we gained from this agreement played a large role in defense against chemical and biological agents but also played a large role in the forward progression of the medical field and provided a better understanding of the human body.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1616555.Unit_731
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google