Unmanned Warfare: Psychological and Ethical Dimensions

Abstract

Though over the years our methods of care have become more sophisticated, with each new war we’ve been painfully reminded that we still haven’t solved the problem of suffering experienced by soldiers during and after war. However, with the military now able to use computer and real-life simulations to create hyper-realistic training programs to prepare soldiers for combat, more advanced weaponry to remove soldiers from contact with the enemy, and virtual reality in counseling to help soldiers understand their wartime experiences and integrate back into society, perhaps this technological revolution paves the way for a parallel therapeutic revolution. These ways of trying to deal with this problem show us that we haven’t yet abandoned the view that the soldier’s suffering is caused by the effects of battle. Yet, as early as 1919, Freud attempted to challenge this view by showing that “shell shock” could be better understood and treated if we stopped clinging to the idea that the “shock” is caused by the “shell,” and instead investigated the factors particular to the individual that allowed for the onset of shock in the first place. Through Freud’s research we can find a psychoanalytic method with which to explore this problem. By shifting our perspective from the battlefield to the individual I argue that the technological advances being applied to the suffering surrounding warfare are obscuring more fundamental issues. Technology can at best delay suffering or at worst create the dangerous illusion that we’ve cured it.