Officer Bildung: A Philosophical Investigation of Preconditions for Military Character Education

Abstract

The importance of military leadership can hardly be underestimated. Military organizations worldwide continue to recognise the need for excellent leaders, if they are to deal with the complexities of warfare in the best possible way. Consequently, for the sake of the organization, as well as the individual, military academies seek to train their recruits to become outstanding leaders. To reach this objective, most, if not all, centre their educational programs around the ambition, not only to teach military and academic skills, but also to “develop leaders of character”. Subsequently, countless learning programs and strategies aimed at character development exist. However, an initial analysis of contemporary military education shows that the practice of character education is far from straightforward. This chapter examines the philosophical underpinnings of character education and in doing so, aims to show the inherent difficulties faced by military academies in developing leaders of character. Finally, it argues that, in order to understand what it takes to implement military character education, one first needs to understand its preconditions. By formulating these preconditions and discussing their implications, this chapter aims to contribute to the re-evaluation of the dominant traditional paradigm in military education.