Jon Houston's Notebook

The Problem of Dirty Hands

The Central Question

Should political leaders violate the deepest constraints of morality in order to achieve great goods or avoid disasters for their communities?

Or put another way:

Do correct political actions sometimes conflict with profound moral norms?

Examples

1. The Early Bombing of German Cities by the British

The ultimate aim of an attack on a town area was to break the morale of the population that occupied it.

To ensure this, two things had to be achieved:

  1. The town had to be made physically uninhabitable.
  2. The people had to be made conscious of constant personal danger.

The immediate aim was therefore twofold:

  1. Destruction
  2. Fear of death

Note: these attacks were carried out against civilian targets.

At the time, it was not clear who would win the war. If Germany won, liberalism might perish in Europe.

2. Torture to Retrieve Information About Future Attacks

Another example is torture used to retrieve information about future attacks.

This was the justification used for torture during the Second Gulf War.

Questions

  1. Most theorists claim that a politician can get her hands dirty only if there is a supreme emergency. What might constitute a supreme emergency?

  2. One might be tempted to compare the problem of dirty hands to trolley problems. How similar are they?

  3. Some theorists claim that the political realm and the moral realm are different. Is this true? Is it even possible for an action to be politically good but morally bad?

  4. Is the political leader with dirty hands in any way blameworthy? Should a political leader with dirty hands feel regret? Remorse? Guilt?

  5. In democracies, if a political leader gets dirty hands, then we must have elected her. Are we in any way blameworthy? Should we feel regret? Remorse? Guilt?

  6. Is it permissible for groups other than states to get their hands dirty? For instance, Kurdish forces in Turkey?

  7. Is it permissible for groups to get their hands dirty in assistance to other entities that cannot defend themselves? For instance, E.L.F. or A.L.F.?