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Ethics of Military Profession

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Ethics of Military Profession

Data is displayed for the academic year: 2025./2026.

Course Description

Having general ethical principles in mind, the course should familiarize future officers with core values of military ethics, initiate them into practical principles of ethical decision making in the military organization environment so that they are prepared for complex tasks assigned to them, especially under the circumstances involving violence and unclear situations.

Study Programmes

undergraduate
Air Defence - course
(6. semester)
Armour - course
(6. semester)
Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defence - course
(6. semester)
Engineers - course
(6. semester)
Field Artillery - course
(6. semester)
Military Leadership and Management - study
(6. semester)
Monitoring and Guidance - course
(6. semester)
Signals - course
(6. semester)
Technical Support - course
(6. semester)

Learning Outcomes

  1. To define basic ethical terms: ethics, morale, virtues, the good, values, customary practices, duty, law, responsibility, belief
  2. To differentiate between heteronomous and autonomous ethics and be acquainted with the roots of morality
  3. To have knowledge of the ethical principles of democratic and plural political systems and core values of Croatian society
  4. To have knowledge of military virtues and specificities of military profession regarding ethical issues
  5. to have knowledge of leadership qualities and build their own leadership capabilities
  6. to assess moral justification of every action undertaken in the chaotic circumstances of an armed conflict situation in a time-efficient, decisive and responsible manner
  7. to internalize corporate spirit common to all members which is the basis for their actions in all circumstances
  8. To apply adopted ethical principles and have clear guidelines for taking the right action in circumstances when appropriate orders or regulations do not exist
  9. To have knowledge and understanding of ethical differences, relativism and multiculturalism
  10. To write and deliver a motivational speech

Forms of Teaching

Lectures

Seminars and workshops

Field work

Work with mentor

Week by Week Schedule

  1. Lectures: Basic terms: ethics, morale, virtue, the good, values, customary practices, duty, law, responsibility, belief Exercises: Homerus and antic warrior ethics
  2. Lectures: Different approaches in making ethical decisions: descriptive, normative, consequentialist (utilitarian) and applied ethics. Ethics of virtue, duty and belief. Exercises: Herodotus and Thucydides
  3. Lectures: Basics of the ethical: heteronomous and autonomous ethics. The roots of morality: religion, legality, morality, culture. Ethical relativism and interculturalism. Exercises: Plato's ethics of guardians
  4. Lectures: Brief history of general ethics and professional ethics, especially ethics of military profession (introduction to the basic ideas of the most prominant philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Mill, Scheler, Weber etc) Exercises: Aristotle and ethics of the golden mean
  5. Lectures: Morality as a prerequsite of human society. Ethical principles of democratic and plural political systems. Core values of Croatian society and basic human rights. Exercises: Kant and morality
  6. Lectures: Specific qualities of military organisation and profession in relation to ethical issues and dilemmas. The importance of ethical development of military personnl for efficient operation of the military organisation. The concept of inner leadership and the organisation spirit. Exercises: Contemporary ethical theories and foundation of ethics (selected texts)
  7. Lectures: Military virtues and officers' ethical standards: integrity, loyalty, courage, responisibility, unselfishness, dedication, determination, fairness, truthfulness, leading by example, caring for others, team work, honesty, elegance, tactfulness and refinement. Exercises: Howard (selected chapters)
  8. Lectures: Duty and honour. Moral and character flaws and their consequences. Exercises: Walzer (selected chapters)
  9. Lectures: The role, development and resposibility of a leader in a military organisation. Exercises: Codes of ethics of military organization (selected texts)
  10. Lectures: Basic ethical dilemmas of the military profession, resolving dilemmas, dealing with the consequences: freedom and necessity, service and family, imperative of combat and victory, legal and ethical restrictions of the use of violence, military organisation policy and consciousness of the individual, execution of orders, individual initiative and disobeyance, military and democracy, military and politics. Exercises: Constitution of the Republic of Croatia
  11. Lectures: Just war theories (bellum iustum). Exercises: Code of ethics of Croatian Armed Forces
  12. Lectures: Conduct in combat. Principles of commensurability, discrimination, military necessity and force majeure . Collateral and material damage. Treatment of civilians and war prisoners. Exercises: Code of ethics of the Croatian Armed Forces
  13. Lectures: Use and abuse of violence and power. Conduct in specific missions (terrorism, rebellions, riots, peacekeeping missions, etc.). Exercises: Examples of ethical texts from other cultures and civilizations
  14. Lectures: Cultural differences and relativity of ethical and moral standards. Conduct in other cultural and civilizational contexts. Exercises: Great military orators and famous speeches (Pericles, Lincon, Churchill, Patton, Stepinac, etc.)
  15. Lectures: Priniciples of military rethoric. Exercises: Topics of exam papers

Literature

(.), Bohrmann, Thomas (2013.) Handbuch Militärische Berufsethik. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.,
(.), Howard, Michael et al. (Eds.) (1994.) The Laws of War. Constraints on Warfare in the Western World. New Haven – London: Yale University Press.,
(.), Van Baarda, Th.A. - D.E.M Verweij (Eds.) (2006.) Military Ethics: The Dutch Approach - A Practical Guide. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ,
(.), Walzer, Michael (1992.) Just and Ujust Wars. A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations. S.l.: Basic Books,

For students

General

ID 282182
  Summer semester
3.0 ECTS
L1 e-Learning
30 Lectures
15 Seminar