Join Dr Adam Henschke, University of Twente, and Professor Tom Simpson, Blavatnik School of Government, for a discussion of Dr Henschke's new paper exploring military training, how it is designed to increase military success by overcoming a soldier’s ‘normal’ morality.

In normal conditions, one should not seek to kill or harm others, however, in warfare, not only is this permissible, it is obligatory – a necessary part of what being a serving member of the military involves. This presents the military as a special case of moral exceptionalism, where – if the moral conditions described by the just war tradition are met – we both expect, and intend for the soldier to regularly engage in conduct that is morally exceptional. This is a particular form of role morality – the role of an active service member in the military carries with it unique permissions and obligations in virtue of the military’s purpose. However, considering the conditions that are likely to produce moral injury, this military role morality sets the stage for increased risks of moral injury arising from a radical conflict between the soldier’s military role morality and a person’s normal morality. The paper ultimately argues that while the conditioning for a military role morality might be justified, it brings about a significant burden of responsibility on behalf of the military and related institutions to look for, and care for, soldiers with moral injury.

Please note that this discussion is open to members of the University of Oxford only, please use your University email address to register. The event will take place in person only and capacity is extremely limited, please register below to secure your place.

Adam Henschke

Adam Henschke is a senior researcher with the University of New South Wales Canberra, an assistant professor with the University of Twente, and an adjunct associate professor with Murdoch University. His work sits at the interface between ethics, technology, and national security institutions. Recent publications include AI and the Reinvention of Democracy: From Deepfakes to Deep Change, co-edited with Kevin Macnish and Kristy Claasen, (Edinburgh University Press 2027), Cognitive Warfare: Grey Matters In Contemporary Political Conflict (Routledge, 2024), and On The Moral Significance Of Soldier Disenhancement, in Human Enhancement at War: Ethics, Law, and the Making of Gods of War (edited by Blake Herewith and Nick Evans, Oxford University Press 2027).