The Film A Few Good Men provides a lens through which to view the issues discussed in the articles "The Genocidal Killer in the Mirror" by Crispin Sartwell and "The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience" by Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton. The film depicts a classic struggle between moral correctness and militarized obedience. In "The Genocidal Killer in the Mirror," Sartwell describes that in certain situations and circumstances even the most moral people could be swayed into acts of wrongdoing. Kelman and Hamilton write about the My Lai Massacre, a bloody and atrocious annihilation of the city Son, Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. They tell the story of many, possibly normally moral people, turning into savage beasts, simply
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Sartwell describes these four as being: deference to authority, response to social consensus, willingness to respond to people as members of groups, and to expect groups, overall, to display certain qualities, and a desire for your own security and that of your family and friends, to the extent you are willing to make moral compromises to preserve it (Sartwell 118). Both Dawson and Downey blindly follow the corrupt orders given by Col. Jessup, which led to the death of Private First Class William Santiago. All four of Sartwell's circumstances can explain why Dawson and Downey fail to follow their moral guidelines. In the military you must respect and honor your superiors, other people were urging them to act in a certain way, Dawson and Downey both knew that Santiago was weaker, and they live in a place where one must wear camouflage or risk being shot. Along with this, Ron Ashkenas of Harvard Business review tell the real life dangers of blind obedience and deference to authority in his article "The Dangers of Deference." Ashkenas asserts that in even a laid back business setting, subordinates to a person of higher power are likely going to do whatever their superior tells them to do, whether it be moral or immoral (Ashkenas). Kelman and Hamilton then corroborate by also asserting that, …show more content…
Similarly, in the text, "The My Lai Massacre," Kelman and Hamilton tell the story of Lieutenant William Calley, the only person charged with any crime from the day of the massacre. He was charged with 109 killings and stood trial for 102 of them. He, although choosing the immoral path, still stood with honor as he went through trials and attested to his wrongdoings. (Kelman and Hamilton 136). Sarwell would also claim that because of their efforts to obey their authority their honor does coincide with the wrong and immoral acts committed. Similarly, in "Ethics Training and Development in the Military," Paul Robinson tells how soldiers are trained to follow orders no matter what. When honor is understood as coming from deference, one can understand why such immoral acts could be seen as permissible. Doctor Philip Zimbardo, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, writes in an excerpt from his book "The Lucifer Effect," about the psychological processes needed to turn a good, moral person evil. Zimbardo explains, through demonstration and exemplification, how evil is derived inside one's mind. He shows that, in fact, it truly may be honorable to simply follow orders, although sometimes unethical, showing that sometimes, mainly in a militarized sense, that honor and unethical actions may
Sartwell describes these four as being: deference to authority, response to social consensus, willingness to respond to people as members of groups, and to expect groups, overall, to display certain qualities, and a desire for your own security and that of your family and friends, to the extent you are willing to make moral compromises to preserve it (Sartwell 118). Both Dawson and Downey blindly follow the corrupt orders given by Col. Jessup, which led to the death of Private First Class William Santiago. All four of Sartwell's circumstances can explain why Dawson and Downey fail to follow their moral guidelines. In the military you must respect and honor your superiors, other people were urging them to act in a certain way, Dawson and Downey both knew that Santiago was weaker, and they live in a place where one must wear camouflage or risk being shot. Along with this, Ron Ashkenas of Harvard Business review tell the real life dangers of blind obedience and deference to authority in his article "The Dangers of Deference." Ashkenas asserts that in even a laid back business setting, subordinates to a person of higher power are likely going to do whatever their superior tells them to do, whether it be moral or immoral (Ashkenas). Kelman and Hamilton then corroborate by also asserting that, …show more content…
Similarly, in the text, "The My Lai Massacre," Kelman and Hamilton tell the story of Lieutenant William Calley, the only person charged with any crime from the day of the massacre. He was charged with 109 killings and stood trial for 102 of them. He, although choosing the immoral path, still stood with honor as he went through trials and attested to his wrongdoings. (Kelman and Hamilton 136). Sarwell would also claim that because of their efforts to obey their authority their honor does coincide with the wrong and immoral acts committed. Similarly, in "Ethics Training and Development in the Military," Paul Robinson tells how soldiers are trained to follow orders no matter what. When honor is understood as coming from deference, one can understand why such immoral acts could be seen as permissible. Doctor Philip Zimbardo, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, writes in an excerpt from his book "The Lucifer Effect," about the psychological processes needed to turn a good, moral person evil. Zimbardo explains, through demonstration and exemplification, how evil is derived inside one's mind. He shows that, in fact, it truly may be honorable to simply follow orders, although sometimes unethical, showing that sometimes, mainly in a militarized sense, that honor and unethical actions may