Warrior Geeks: How 21st Century Technology is Changing the Way We Fight and Think About War
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Author Description
Warrior Geeks examines how technology is transforming the way we think about and fight war, taking three major changes that are driving this process: cybernetic technologies that are folding soldiers into a cybernetic system that will allow the military to read their thoughts and emotions and mould them accordingly; the coexistence of men and robots in the battle-spaces of tomorrow; and the extent to which we may be able to re-engineer warriors through pharmacological manipulation. By referring back to the Greeks who defined the contours of war for us, Coker shows how we are in danger of losing touch with our humanity - the name we give not only to a species but the virtues we deem it to embody. The journey from Greeks to Geeks may be a painful one. War can only be rendered more humane if we stay in touch with the ancestors, yet unfortunately we are planning to subcontract our ethical choices to machines. In revaluing technology, are we devaluing our humanity, or the post-human condition, changing our subjectivity and thus the existential dimension of war by changing our relationship with technology both functionally and performatively?
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates whether the rapid integration of advanced technology into modern warfare is fundamentally eroding the human virtues and ethical frameworks that have historically defined the nature of conflict. Christopher Coker, a professor of international relations, utilizes a blend of classical philosophy and contemporary military analysis to argue that the transition from traditional combat to a cybernetic, post-human model threatens our existential understanding of war. He examines how the delegation of moral agency to machines and the biological modification of soldiers challenge the core definition of humanity in the context of violence.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of cybernetic systems designed to monitor and regulate soldier cognition and emotional states.
- Examination of the integration of autonomous robotics and human-machine teaming in future battlefields.
- Discussion on the ethical implications of pharmacological enhancement and re-engineering of combatants.
- Comparative study between ancient Greek concepts of war and modern technological paradigms.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Experts and readers frequently note the philosophical density of the prose, which bridges the gap between technical military strategy and classical humanities. The text is widely regarded as a foundational inquiry into the moral hazards of the post-human condition in modern defense policy.
Page Count:
330
Publication Date:
2013-02-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0199327890
ISBN-13:
9780199327898
Philosophy
Military Weapons
Greece
Military History
Soldiers
Warfare
Technology
Sociology
Ethics
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