Core Values: Framing and Resolving Ethical Issues for the Air Force

摘要

The core values of the United States Air Force -- integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do -- are astonishingly simple and forceful. But are they too simple and too forceful. Are they so simple, so general, they can mean anything to anyone. If so, will they turn out to be only this year's slogan. Are they so forceful, so demanding, they are unrealistic. If so, will they lead to hypocrisy or cynicism. Questions like these are not unreasonable -- but they have good answers, and it is worth spelling them out. There are many good approaches to these questions, but I think distinctions and methods of moral philosophy offer an especially promising way to explain the tremendous appeal and power of the Air Force core values. That is what I attempt here -- an explanation of the Air Force core values based on strategies of moral reasoning. I first describe possible misunderstandings about the core values. Then I claim that airmen can use the core values to frame and resolve ethical issues because the core values can represent all dimensions of the structure and purpose of morality. Understood in terms of the structure of morality, the core values represent the core concepts airmen need to frame ethical issues. Understood in terms of the purpose of morality, they represent the values airmen need to resolve those issues.