Professor Georges Van Den Abbeele

Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars:  A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations, Fourth Edition (New York:  Basic, 1977).

Study Questions: 

1.  What does Walzer mean when he states that soldiers face each other in battles not as criminals, but as “moral equals”?

2.  What is meant by the rule of proportionality?  Can you give an example?

3.  What “rights” are in question when Walzer states, on p. 135, that “a legitimate act of war is one that does not violate the rights of the people against whom it is directed”?

4.  According to the first principle of the war convention, once war has begun, when are soldiers not subject to attack?

5.  Give some examples that blur the distinction between combatants and noncombatants. 

6.  Explain the principle of “double effect” as it relates to the moral imperative to avoid harm to civilians in warfare.

7.  What kinds of “due care” do soldiers owe civilians in wartime situations?

8.  What kinds of moral dilemmas are brought about by sieges?

9.  What do you think about Walzer's proposed right of civilians to leave a besieged city or battle zone?

10.  Discuss the morality of the “strategic devastation” of crops, food supplies, and economic infrastructure.  Who bears the brunt of these kinds of actions, and how can they be justified?

11.  In what ways does guerilla warfare play havoc with the distinction between combatants and noncombatants? What are the moral and ethical consequences?

12.  What conditions must be met for a nation justifiably to claim the necessity of “supreme emergency”  (Chapter 16)?

13.  Compare the justifications for the British bombing of civilian targets (cities) in the war against Germany with the American justification for dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in the war against Japan.  Do you agree or disagree with Walzer's analysis and evaluations of these justifications?  Why or why not?

14.  What are the two defenses typically claimed by soldiers accused of having violated the rights of others?

15.  When should a soldier refuse to obey the orders of a commanding officer?

16.  What is meant by the “excuse of duress”?

17.  What is “command responsibility”?

18.  Explain the “dishonoring” of Arthur Harris. 

19.  Discuss Walzer's conclusion that “the world of war is not a fully comprehensible, let alone a morally satisfactory place” (p. 327).  To what extent can we really speak about ethical behavior in warfare (“jus in bello”)?

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Paths of Glory, Dir. Stanley Kubrick, United Artists, 1957.

Study Questions: 

1.  When and where does the film’s story take place?

2.  Why does General Mireau agree to send his troops on an impossible mission to attack an impregnable stronghold known as the “Anthill”?

3.  Who is Colonel Dax (played by Kirk Douglas) and how does he react to the command to launch an attack on the Anthill?

4.  Explain what happens in the night patrol led by Lieutenant Roget.  Describe the relationship between him and Corporal Paris.

5.  When the attack on the Anthill predictably fails, what illegal action does General Mireau try to take against his own troops?

6.  Which three soldiers are selected to be executed on charges of cowardice?  By what “justice” are these men chosen?

7.  How would you characterize the Court Martial?  How does it treat the rights of the accused men?

8.  Who does Colonel Dax ask to lead the firing squad, and why?

9.  What motivations does General Broulard attribute to Colonel Dax when the latter provides him with incriminating information about General Mireau?  What does his cynicism say about the ideology of the general staff? 

10.  What is the meaning of the final scene in the tavern, where a young German woman is forced to sing before the French soldiers?

11.  Why does it make sense for this film to have been produced in black and white rather than color?

12.  The movie's title comes from the following lines in Thomas Gray's 1751 “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”:

            The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
            And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
            Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
            The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

How do these lines contribute to our understanding of the film?