The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers

The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers

A unique analysis of the moral weight of warfare today through the lenses of philosophy and psychology. Philosopher, ethicist, and psychoanalyst Nancy Sherman explores the psychological and moral burdens borne by soldiers. By illuminating the extent to which wars are fought internally as well as externally, this book expands the national discussion about war and the men and women who fight our nation’s battles. With close-up looks at servicemen and ―women preparing for, experiencing, and returning home from war, Sherman probes the psyche of today’s soldiers―examining how they learn to kill and to leave the killing behind. Bringing to light the moral quandaries soldiers face―torture, the thin line between fighters and civilians, and the anguish of killing even in a just war―Sherman bares the souls of our soldiers and the emotional landscape of soldiering. At the heart of the book are interviews with soldiers, from the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also from Vietnam and World Wars I and II. Philosopher and psychoanalyst Sherman brings both perspectives when listening to soldiers sort out their feelings about war, the killing, reintegration into society, and survivor guilt. Sherman focuses on interviews with 40 soldiers—from the Vietnam era through the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—at various points in their military careers and expands her examination to the impact of war on the families of soldiers. Referring to philosophers from Aristotle to Seneca to Epictetus, she explores the moral dilemma of justifying killing in war, struggles with the morality of some wars, the political obfuscation for war, denigration of the enemy, torture of prisoners, the morality of interrogators, and the worries of being held prisoner. On a broader level, Sherman explores the practical need to compartmentalize military and civilian life but the moral need not to compartmentalize so much that humanity is lost. Sherman, who has worked with the military on trauma and ethics issues, offers penetrating portraits of the individual struggles of soldiers and profound insights on aspects of war that civilians rarely consider. --Vanessa Bush "Starred Review. At a time when suicide rates among veterans is increasing sharply, this empathic examination of ‘the moral weight that soldiers carry on their shoulders’ is essential reading." ― Publishers Weekly "Nancy Sherman, a professor of philosophy at Georgetown University who has written a book about the moral implications of war on troops, The Untold War , said dehumanizing the enemy can be a psychological defense mechanism for the troops whose job is to kill that enemy. 'Desecrating bodies is not routine, nor is it expected or condoned,' Ms. Sherman said. 'But you can understand it, in complicated ways. Because war requires a very complicated moral psyche." ― James Dao, New York Times Nancy Sherman , University Professor at Georgetown University, served as the Inaugural Distinguished Chair in Ethics at the Naval Academy. Trained as both a philosopher and a psychoanalyst, she lectures on resilience, trauma, and military ethics. She lives in Kensington, Maryland.