Drones, Ethics, and the Armchair Soldier

Drones, Ethics, and the Armchair Soldier

This is an article by the philosopher John Kaag about how the military is dealing with the changes in today’s environment with military warfare and the affects it has on the ground pilots that are driving drones to eliminate targets and terrorists.

10 years ago the Iraq invasion was a remote control game for the soldiers, very similar to how we use our remote controls for channel surfing on the TV or video games today. Many people use remote controls to play games, shoot animals, and blow up buildings to entertain themselves. The military uses similar remote controls to direct and deliver devastating military assaults against enemies and terrorists.

Today the operations of the traditional chain of command is similar to writing directions for robots but without having to think about ethics behind it. Now soldiers do not have to be carrying pounds of gear while fighting and fearing for their lives, instead they do their jobs sitting down, they have something in common with philosophers who do their job sitting down. John quoted, “For the first time in history, soldiers have something in common with philosophers: they can do their jobs sitting down.” This provides the remote control soldier additional time and ability to think about how they will use a drone to eliminate a target.

Soldiers today need to work their way through arriving at the logical answer of their orders and decisions while working through existential responsibility. This will not be easy and will need additional training to provide creative ways to make correct and rapid decisions. Past leaders worked their way through this strategy and thinking knowing they would be safe behind bunkers while the ground troops were out fighting prior plans. Past commanders such as Obama or Alexander the great studied and trained, not at an academy, but with strong engagement with philosophical traditions while emphasizing how to make the proper...