The Code of the Warrior

Jan 10, 2022

Shannon French, a professor of ethics and philosophy with a focus on military ethics, dives deep into the complexities of warrior codes throughout history. She discusses how these codes, from ancient Greece to the chivalry of knights, define honorable behavior in warfare. Shannon explores crucial questions about the ethics of killing, the identity of a warrior versus a murderer, and the psychological impacts on soldiers. She also highlights the healing rituals of Native American tribes and the Samurai, offering timeless lessons on morality and leadership.

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insights

INSIGHT

Warrior vs. Killer

The act of killing is usually taboo, but killing in war has important distinctions.
Understanding these distinctions helps warriors maintain their humanity and prevent moral injury.

insights

INSIGHT

Ubiquity of Warrior Codes

Warrior codes are found across cultures and history, arising organically within warrior groups.
These codes protect warriors, not just civilians, by offering guidance and preventing moral injury.

insights

INSIGHT

Identity over Rules

Warrior codes focus on identity, not just rules, emphasizing embodying virtues like honor and justice.
This allows flexibility in complex situations where strict rules may not apply.

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Ethics of the Warrior: A Philosophical Exploration

03:35 • 17min

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Exploring Warrior Codes Through Ancient Epics

20:43 • 5min

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Themes of Honor and Grief in Warfare

25:49 • 16min

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Chivalry and the Knights of the Round Table: A Code for Leadership

42:15 • 3min

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Warrior Codes: Healing Through Rituals

45:31 • 15min

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Exploring Military Ethics and Warrior Values

01:00:04 • 2min

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Editor's Note: This is a rebroadcast. It originally aired July 2020.

War is a violent and bloody business, but it's rarely a no-holds barred free-for-all. Instead, codes of conduct that determine what is and isn't honorable behavior on the battlefield have existed since ancient times.

My guest today explored these various codes in a book she wrote during the decade she spent teaching at the United States Naval Academy. Her name is Shannon French, she's a professor of ethics and philosophy, and her book is The Code of the Warrior: Exploring Warrior Values Past and Present. Shannon and I begin our conversation with the pointed questions she used to pose to the cadets she taught as to how being a warrior was different than being a killer or murderer, and when killing is and isn't ethical. She then explains how the warrior codes which developed all around the world arose organically from warriors themselves for their own protection, and how these codes are more about identity than rules. Shannon and I then take a tour of warrior codes across time and culture, starting with the code in Homer's Iliad, and then moving into the strengths and weaknesses of the Stoic philosophy which undergirded the code of the Romans. From there we unpack the code of the medieval knights of Arthurian legend, what American Indians can teach soldiers about the need to make clear transitions between the homefront and the warfront, and how the Bushido code of the samurais sought to balance the influence of four different religions. We end our conversation with the role warrior codes play today in an age of increasingly technologized combat.

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Resources Related to the Podcast

Why You Need a Philosophical Survival Kit
The Warrior's Manifesto
The Way of the Monastic Warrior
The Way of the Stoic Warrior
The Warrior Ethos
The Warrior Archetype
AoM series of Sioux guides
Aristotle's Wisdom on Living the Good Life
Hector and Achilles: Two Paths to Manliness
What Homer's Odyssey Can Teach Us Today
How Soldiers Die in Battle
What Plato's Republic Has to Say About Being a Man
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
The Fall of the Roman Republic
Lessons From the Roman Art of War
Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot
Le Morte Darthur
Achilles in Vietnam
The Bushido Code
Everything You Know About Ninjas is Wrong

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