Soldatens dilemma : Konflikten mellan moraliska skyldigheter och plikt i krig

Sammanfattning: Throughout the last decade wars have created a certain interest in reflection upon rights, justice and the causes for which people may or may not be killed. Soldiers are expected to make decisions about life and death in extremely difficult circumstances and complex situations during war. With conflicting obligations, they are forced to choose between orders, duty and ethical values in situations where not all can be met at the same time. Scholars in military ethics argues that ethical challenges and dilemmas can be overcome by using ethical reasoning processes such as moral judgement, moral competence and through different moral principles in the conduct of war. This study investigates how Swedish soldiers reason between moral dilemmas they might encounter in their professional practice and aims to explore if there is a conflict between their moral obligations and duty. It aims to improve the understanding of how Swedish soldiers justify the use of lethal force and obeying orders, and what underlying ethical and moral factors that affect their judgements and justifications. Qualitative scenario-based results show that their moral judgements are based foremost on consequentialist grounds, with good moral competence to adapt their judgements when faced with moral dilemmas. Subconsciously they follow the rules and moral principles of war, putting great emphasis on their trust and dependence on fellow soldiers as well as higher military bodies, although they are likely to disobey orders when it doesn’t seem morally justified.