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Patriotic Conscientious Objection to Military Service

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to show that conscientious objection (henceforth CO) to military service is essentially not a dilemma of freedom of conscience versus the duty to obey the law, but above all a dilemma between two conflicting patriotic moral obligations. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that CO is justifiable on the basis of what is known as moderate patriotism, that is, out of a patriotism which is committed simultaneously to universal and particular values. The paper begins with a critical discussion of theoretical weaknesses in liberal thought of CO. Then, the concept of moderate patriotism is presented, followed by a discussion of the notion of patriotic CO (PCO). The next stage presents a step Towards A Theory of PCO to Military Service and shows how it differs from other liberal theories of disobedience. The conclusion is that if CO on patriotic grounds is morally justifiable, it follows that this is an act committed within the framework of legitimate political discourse. Therefore, PCO is politically legitimate even if it is not always legal. In other words, the discussion of PCO offers a theoretical distinction between political legitimacy and legality.

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Notes

  1. In cases of volunteer armies, CO appears in relatively low numbers. Nevertheless, its existence indicates a dilemma on the part of the resisters, regardless of whether or not military service is compulsory and regardless of the question of obedience to the law. For a discussion on CO in volunteer armies see McMahan (2013). For a critical discussion of the lack of compulsory service in the US, see Maddow (2012, pp. 242–252). For data on CO in the Unites States during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan see Jamail (2009, pp. 23–33). For data on CO in Britain during the Iraq War see World survey of conscription and conscientious objection to military service (March 2013). For a discussion on liberalism and military service see Carter (1998, pp. 68–80).

  2. For a discussion of political legitimacy, see Manin (1987, pp. 338–368) Nagel (1987, pp. 215–240) Buchanan (2002, pp. 689–719) and Coicaud (2002, pp. 10–42).

  3. There may be cases of CO that are a result of indirect disobedience: for example, resisting military conscription or a specific service to protest against the government’s economic policy. There may also be cases of direct specific disobedience to protest against foreign or security policy, yet this type of disobedience would not take the form of CO to military service, but of infraction of other laws. On the distinction between direct and indirect CD, see Bedau (1961, p. 657). On the distinction between CD and other offenses, or between CD and legal protest, see Brownlee (2013); CO and CD may manifest themselves also as a rule departure and as evasive non-compliance. See Feinberg (1979, pp. 37–60); Childress (1985, pp. 63–83).

  4. For definitions of conscientious objection, see Rawls (1990, pp. 368–371); Raz (1979, pp. 263–264); Walzer (1970, p. 12); Moskos and Chambers (1993, p. 5). For definitions of civil disobedience see Bedau (1961, pp. 653–661); Rawls (1990, pp. 363–368); Raz (1979, p. 263); Walzer (1970, pp. 24–25); Zinn (1968, p. 281); Singer (1973, pp. 72–92); Greenawalt (1987, pp. 232–240); Lefkowitz (2007, pp. 204–205). Kimberley Brownlee claims that there is no use in trying to hone the existing definitions of civil disobedience any further, and instead suggests that an appropriate paradigm be sought. See Brownlee (2004, pp. 337–351). For another view of disobedience see Laudani (2013, pp. 2–7).

  5. On the question of why liberalism is tolerant of pacifism, see Rawls (1990, pp. 370–371).

  6. For examples of African-American CO on grounds of racial injustice see Moskos, and Chambers (1993, pp. 52–55); James et al. (1980). For examples of CO out of objection to a specific social-economic policy see Matar (2012); Gazit, (2013).

  7. For a discussion of patriotism, see Dietz (2002, pp. 201–215); Viroli (1995); Bar-Tal and Staub (1997, pp. 45–54); Primoratz (2002, p. 444). See also Schatz and Staub (1997, pp. 229–245); Sullivan et al. (1992, pp. 200–235).

  8. For a different conception see Nussbaum (2008, pp. 78–93).

  9. In this respect, it can be argued that resistance to supra-state military service can be justified by cosmopolitan patriotism.

  10. On the criticism of moderate patriotism and the responses to it, see Canovan (2000, pp. 413–432); Nathanson (1997, pp. 317–322). Paul Gomberg offers a radical criticism of all forms of patriotism discussed above, including its moderate variant, arguing that patriotism of any kind is tantamount to racism. See Gomberg (1990, pp. 44–150). For Nathanson’s response to Gomberg’s claim, see Nathanson (1992, pp. 9–12).

  11. On civil responsibility in democracies in the context of unjust policies, see Pasternak (2011, pp. 99–123).

  12. On the other hand, I agree that one cannot completely rule out the existence of certain extreme circumstances in which a war waged by the state, or some other state policy, would be immoral to such an extent that renouncing patriotism would become a moral duty.

  13. Estlund’s argument relates to the tension between representation and public responsibility, regarding unjust wars. For different positions on this issue, see McMahan (2013) and Pasternak (2011, pp. 99–103).

  14. For The Apology by Socrates see Barrow (1977).

  15. There are resisters who, while making personal sacrifices in both senses, believe that the social cost is the most difficult part of the sacrifice (Le Meur 1959, p. 690).

  16. Namely, internal consistency and coherence, external consistency, that is, faithfulness to the intentions of those making the claims beyond the given claim at hand and consistency with other theories and intuitions held by the same people, and the ability to justify the position of those making the claim (de-Shalit 2006, p. 97).

  17. For a discussion of violent and non-violent disobedience, see Bedau (1961, p. 656); Rawls (1990, pp. 366–367); Raz (1979, p. 267); Walzer (1970, pp. 24–25); Morreall (1991, pp. 134–139); Walen (2001, pp. 345–352); and Sharp (1984).

  18. I do not disagree with Nathanson’s assertion that a pacifist can also be a patriot. At the same time, my argument is that, compared to specific CO, it is more difficult to justify across the board CO on principled grounds in terms of patriotism.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful for the feedback I received from participants of the Inaugural Conference of the Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace, Stockholm University, Sweden, 24–25 May 2014; and the Society for Applied Philosophy Annual Conference, St. Anne’s College, Oxford University, 27–29 June 2014. I also wish to thank Avner de-Shalit and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments on previous drafts.

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    Shlomit Asheri-Shahaf

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Asheri-Shahaf, S. Patriotic Conscientious Objection to Military Service. Res Publica 22, 155–172 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-015-9275-0

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