For as long as there are battles, there are prisoners. The captives are held by the so-called rivals. Out of the prisoners, some escape, others are freed; some are exchanged while others are killed. The outline portrays the situation of Bowe Bergdahl, who was held in captivity for almost five years. The sergeant was released in 2014 in exchange for several detainees in a US Camp in Cuba. Hours after his rescue, controversial stories rose accusing him of misconduct and desertion. Bowe is currently facing charges from the US Army on the account of desertion and misbehavior that can earn him a life imprisonment. This article conceptualizes on the ethical themes that present themselves in Bowe Bergdahl Case.
The latest advancements in the Bowe Bergdahl’s situation provide information regarding the courses of military ethics as well as justice and civics classes. The dilemma poses ethical doubts regarding his detainment, the government’s decision to save him, and charge him afterward. The release of his accounts on Serial serves as an attempt from Bergdahl’s legal counsel to clarify the issues surrounding his capture to smoothen the processes of his trial. The moral complications of his case are further added by the supposed deaths of six of his platoon members on the account of his detainment (Serial Podcast, the Bowe Bergdahl Case).
When the U.S. Administration announced its choice to free Bergdahl, critics questioned the sanity of the decision of releasing five dangerous and valuable suspects for one man. The case tested the loyalty of the American government to bringing all their soldiers back home even those that were captured under suspicious circumstances. However, it interfered with the fundamental ethical concept of utilitarianism that focuses on delivering the interests of the majority. President Obama also made the mistake of declaring that Bergdahl served the U.S. Army with distinction and honor. In the real sense, Bowe Bergdahl’s actions were driven by delusion, immaturity, and irresponsibility (Serial Podcast, the Bowe Bergdahl Case).
Utilitarianism entails a teleological or consequential theory that focuses on the ends of an ethical dilemma. The concept thrives on the ability of an individual or a body to make decisions that pertain to providing the benefits to the majority (Beauchamp, 200). Utilitarianism outlines the ethical theme of utility as a basic happiness principle that focuses on quantity. The classical theory was formulated John Stuart Mill for people to understand the true meaning of happiness by measuring their ethical decisions on the ideology of maximizing the overall happiness in society. Happiness elucidates both sensual and intellectual pleasure. The sense of dignity is more inclined towards intellectual provisions instead sensual happiness (Mill, 9).
The concept utility is focused on generating secondary ethical principles that can facilitate general happiness. The approach is strongly related to the concept of charity where people are required to feed and assistance their neighbors. However, charity raises the query of what if someone does not have adequate means of feeding himself let alone helping a neighbor. In such a situation, the charity approach will consider that the individual should starve to assist his or her neighbor. However, self-preservation contends the issue of charity by providing that the person has the duty first to feed himself (Mill, 17).
Under the utility theory, United States government should have weighed the decision that would provide safety and happiness to many people. The approach would have dictated that they do not make the trade of one person with that of five dangerous criminals who may come back to the country and harm American citizens (Mill, 34). However, the decision of the U.S. government to release the five terrorism suspects in the exchange of Bergdahl was also ethically founded. The administration had the duty to soldiers or public servants during hostage situations to preserve their lives at all costs. Therefore, the leaders saw it best to retrieve Bergdahl and defy the concept of utilitarianism.
Critics of the utility approach suppose that morality in a not a product of consequences. It should be based on the ideology of justice. However, Mill provides two counterclaims of including justice in utilitarianism. First, upholding social utility secures all the ethical elements of the theory of justice. Justice arises in the event where an individual’s rights are violated, and punishment is necessary. The second counterclaim proves that social utility is the only reason that makes the society seeks to protect itself by using justice (Mill, 20). Hence, the elements of justice are linked to the utility. The arguments support that it would have been right for the U.S. government to have considered a more utilitarian approach since it would have aligned with the elements of justice.
Various philosophical thinkers have attempted to understand the factors the influence human beings’ decisions. David Hume evaluates the consequential aims of people’s actions. He realizes that individuals base their behaviors on the affections and sentiments of mankind and not the intellectual faculties. Such foundations limit people from focusing on the virtues, satisfaction or the desirable ends of an account (Hume and Beauchamp, 13). Based on David Hume’s ideology, when Bergdahl decided to take an action that according to his perspective would have acted in favor of his platoon and made him a hero, he should have asked himself a series of questions that would have led him to acquire vivid outcomes.
The aspect that shows that Bergdahl did not question his decision can be seen from the moment he left the camp and realized that his big idea could fail and began to think of going back to his platoon. David Hume utilizes the example of a person who performs exercises. If the individual is queried as to why he does exercises, he or she would probably say to maintain his health. Further query as to why the person desires health will obtain the reply that he or she does not want to get sick. More questions will relate sickness to consequences such as pain, impairment, and death. People never get to query themselves to find out the ultimate objectives of their actions (Hume and Beauchamp, 23).
According to Hume and Beauchamp (37), reasoning is perceived as the technique by which relations and factual matters are elucidated or grasped. It acts as an intellectual tool that attains the ends of passion, appetite, or intention. Passion serves as the instigator or motivation for reasoning. In Bergdahl’s situation, he was driven by the desire to become a super soldier. The U.S. Government, on the hand, was directed by the duty to its citizens and soldiers. Hence, they reasoned that the most suitable way to handle the situation was to save the life of the Bowe Bergdahl. The case of Bowe Bergdahl has many ethical themes that would require scholars to focus on different approaches some of which might be conflicting. But one aspect is certain, that is, that all of the themes are genuinely founded on detailed philosophical arguments.
Works Cited
Beauchamp, Tom. Philosophical Ethics: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2002.
Hume, David, and Tom L. Beauchamp. An enquiry concerning the principles of morals: a critical edition. Vol. 4. Oxford University Press, 2006.
Mill, John. Utilitarianism, 1993.
Serial Podcast. The Bowe Bergdahl Case. Web. <https://serialpodcast.org/>
