Super Soldiers: The Ethical, Legal and Social Implications

by Jai Galliott, Mianna Lotz

Overview

The Spartan City State produced what is probably one of the most iconic and ruthless military forces in recorded history. They believed that military training and education began at birth. Post-World War II saw a shift to army tanks, fighter jets and missiles that would go on to fight the next huge battle in Northern Europe. Today, with the advent of unmanned systems, our hopes are attached to the idea that we can fight our battles with soldiers pressing buttons in distant command centres. However, soldiers must now be highly trained, super strong and have the intelligence and mental capacity to handle the highly complex and dynamic military operating environment. It is only now as we progress into the twenty-first century that we are getting closer to realising the Spartan ideal and creating a soldier that can endure more than ever before. This book provides the first comprehensive and unifying analysis of the moral, legal and social questions concerning military human enhancement, with a view toward developing guidance and policy that may influence real-world decision making.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138576520
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/12/2017
Series:	Emerging Technologies, Ethics and International Affairs
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jai Galliott is a Research Fellow at The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. His work revolves around military strategy and the ethical, legal and social implications of emerging technologies. He recently authored Military Robots: Mapping the Moral Landscape and prior to entering academia, served briefly as an officer of the Royal Australian Navy. Mianna Lotz is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Macquarie University, Sydney. Her areas of research specialisation are ethics and applied ethics, with a particular interest in ethical issues in emerging science and technology, including in the spheres of biotechnology, reproduction, and surgical innovation. She is also Chair of the Faculty of Arts Human Research Ethics Committee at Macquarie.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction, JaiGalliott, MiannaLotz; Part I What, Why and How; Chapter 2 Abjecting Humanity, AndrésVaccari; Chapter 3 On Human and Machine, JosephPugliese; Chapter 4 The Super Soldier as Scholar, BarbaraGurgel, AveryPlaw; Chapter 5 Morally Enhanced Soldiers, RyanTonkens; Part II General Problems and Consequences; Chapter 6 Enhanced Warfighters as Private Military Contractors, ArminKrishnan; Super Soldiers and Technological Asymmetry, RobertSimpson; Part III Military Medical Ethics; Chapter 8 Among Super Soldiers, Killing Machines and Addicted Soldiers, Anke Snoek; Chapter 9 Bio-Technical Challenges to Moral Autonomy, SteveMatthews; Chapter 10 Ethical Considerations in Military Surgical Innovation, Katrina Hutchison, Wendy Rogers; Part IV Law, Responsibility and Governance; Chapter 11 Assigning Responsibility in Enhanced Warfare, AlexLeveringhaus; Chapter 12 Collective Responsibility for the Robopocalypse, Seumas Miller; Chapter 13 Singularity and the Art of Warfighters: The Geneva Convention on Trial, Joseph Savirimuthu;

Editorial Reviews

’Recent developments in human enhancement and weapon systems promise to provide war-fighters with vastly enlarged physical, sensory and psychological powers. This wide-ranging collection provides the first comprehensive analysis of the conceptual and practical challenges posed by the emergence of such super soldiers to attributions of agency and responsibility, the regulation of war, and the ethics of the military profession.’ Andrew Alexandra, University of Melbourne, Australia ’Enhanced warfighters are already a reality and will come to greater prominence as medicine and technology advance. Galliott and Lotz are asking the right questions at the right time. This work will help prevent us from having to play catch up when it comes to addressing the ethical and social implications of these fast-moving developments.’ Shannon E. French, Case Western Reserve University, USA

From the Publisher