Americans are very grateful to veterans. Veterans are celebrated via speeches, statues, memorials, holidays, and affirmative action. They are lavishly praised in public gatherings and private conversations. Contrary to this widespread attitude, Stephen Kershnar argues that U.S. citizens should not be very grateful to veterans. In evaluating whether the significant gratitude toward veterans is justified, Kershnar begins by exploring the nature of gratitude. He argues that one person should be very grateful to a second person only when the second person reasonably attempted to provide a significant benefit to the first and was primarily motivated by concern for the first's well-being. Gratitude toward Veterans: Why Americans Should Not Be Very Grateful to Veterans looks at whether veterans typically satisfy these conditions and argues that they do not. The book should be taken seriously not only by scholars in military ethics and ethics in general, but also by anyone interested in the question of how much gratitude is owed to people holding different roles.
Autorentext
Stephen Kershnar is a professor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Fredonia and also an attorney. His research focuses on applied ethics and political philosophy. He has written on such diverse topics as affirmative action, abortion, punishment, pornography, God, interrogational torture, the most valuable player in professional sports, hell, discrimination against women, and Batman.
Inhalt
Chapter 1: The American People are Very Grateful to Veterans
Chapter 2: Collective Gratitude
Chapter 3: We Should Not Be Very Grateful to Veterans
Chapter 4: We Should Not Be Very Grateful to Draftees
Chapter 5: Against the Draft
Chapter 6: In the Future, U.S. Citizens Should Avoid Being Grateful to Veterans
Chapter 7: The Duty to Obey Military Orders is Surprisingly Weak
Chapter 8: Lacking Gratitude and Virtue
Appendix 1: Why it is Bad to be Very Grateful to Someone Who Does Not Merit It
Appendix 2: Gratitude Toward the State Should Flow Through to the Military
Appendix 3: Some Colleagues' Objections