Beyond Snapshots: Longitudinal Pathways and Moral Dead Ends in Military Ethics

Abstract

This article examines ethical decision-making in military contexts from a longitudinal perspective, emphasising how cumulative risk factors, protective factors, and key decision points interact over time to shape outcomes. Drawing on normative ethical theories, classical social psychology, military doctrine, and historical case studies, the discussion moves beyond traditional cross-sectional approaches to consider the temporal and sequential nature of decisions. Particular attention is given to selection, training, organisational culture, and time in combat as determinants of ethical resilience or risk factors for ‘moral dead ends’. The My Lai massacre is used as an illustrative case, visualised through a timeline that highlights the interaction of multiple contributory factors. The analysis suggests that ethical decision-making is rarely the result of isolated choices; rather, it emerges from a chain of preceding decisions and contextual influences. The study concludes by arguing that military ethics education should incorporate longitudinal analysis to better prepare leaders for the cumulative pressures of operational environments.

Keywords: Military ethics, Moral dead ends, Professional military education, Ethical resilience, Virtue ethics