Special obligations are constraints held by particular people because of factors specific to them as individuals or collections of individuals. These can include relational obligations, such as a parent has for their child, or obligations held due to a particular role, such as a lifeguard. We also incur special obligations when we make promises, sign contracts, or take oaths such as an oath of office. A debt of gratitude, such as the impulse a charity recipient might feel to “pay it forward,” is a type of special obligation. So too is a need to make restitution, such as an offender might have toward their victim.

While this might seem straightforward, things--as you probably expect by now--can get complicated. To what degree--if at all--can special obligations permit--or even require--you to violate constraints in how you treat others to whom you do not have a special obligation? What--if any--are those occasions in which you ignore special obligations and prefer the welfare of others?

At the successful completion of this week, you will be able to:

1. Evaluate the role special obligations ought to play in moral deliberation and analyze the
   significance of special obligations have for military leadership (E)
2. Identify and analyze the way culture, family, nation, and religion can create and complicate
   special obligations. (A, E)
3. Analyze how special obligations can make morally permissible actions morally required, and
   evaluate whether special obligations can change the status of morally required or morally
   prohibited actions in extreme circumstances (E)
4. Explain the difference between dissent and disobedience (E)
5. Evaluate the constitutional paradigm and the requirements for disobedience (E)
6. Evaluate the complex relationship between religious beliefs and military commitments (A, F)

READ THIS

“Dilemmas of Loyalty” from Justice: What's the Right Thing To Do? Michael sandel

Additional Resources:

"Letter from a Birmingham Jail" Martin Luther King, Jr.

WATCH THIS (Optional)

Let's talk about your folks!

Complete these steps before you come to class

1. What special obligations do you have in your life? Are they voluntary or involuntary? 
   1. Are voluntary obligations stronger than involuntary?
2. When we come to a discussion of just war, one of the questions that often comes up is whether more than one side in a fight can be fighting a just war or if, almost by definition, only one side (at most) can fight a just war. 
   1. To what degree might warfighters fighting an unjust war nevertheless be fighting for no other reason than to exercise what they believe to be special obligations--to the homeland, their family, their local communities? 
   2. To what degree, if any, does this shape how you think about enemy belligerents? 
3. Naturally, some people with special obligations are in better positions to help those they are obligated to help than other people are able to help those  they  are obligated to help. Because so many of our special obligations are involuntary - where didn't choose our parents - this seems to some to be unfair, and  terribly  unfair when the stakes are high. 
   1. When you think about justice, is it just that, say, one family is better able to care for their children than another family? 
   2. How do you square justice concerns with concerns about meeting special obligations?