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Course syllabus Tactical and Ethical Aspects of Autonomous Systems

Swedish name: Taktiska och etiska aspekter på autonoma system

Course code:
2UF016
Education cycle:
Second cycle
Scope:
7.5 credits
Progression:
A1N
Grading scale:
Three-grade scale
Main field of study:
Systems Science for Defence and Security
Department:
Department of Systems Science for Defence and Security
Subject:
Systems Science for Defence and Security
Language of instruction:
The teaching is conducted in English.

Entry requirements

Recommended:

Passed courses of at least 180 credits that include

  • at least 7,5 credits in the field of Defence, Crisis management and Security,

  • written thesis project including of at least 15 credits,

and knowledge corresponding to English 6 (English B).

Course content and structure

The purpose of the course is to deepen the understanding of ethical and tactical aspects on the use and design of autonomous systems in the context of defence and security. The course cover the following areas:

Autonomous systems in military operations – ethics and tactics, overall. What exists, overall on ethical and tactical issues regarding these and future autonomous systems. This includes the debate on autonomous systems, including the UN discussions on a ban. These provide a basis for the ablity to describe and categorize ethical and tactical problems linked to autonomous systems.

Tactics and autonomy definitions. Conceptual analysis linked to tactics and autonomy: conceptual analysis and philosophy linked to autonomous systems in military use including definitions in general as well as definitions of autonomy and tactics. These provide a basis for the ability to analyse and argue for different positions in related to tactical and ethical aspects of autonomous systems.

Technology and tactics. The impact of technology on tactics in general and autonomous systems linkes to military capability.

Autonomous systems and control. The human being in the decision loop, meaningful human control, the influence of autonomous systems on tactics in terms of control. This provides a basis for the ability to evaluate arguments in the debate.

Tactical competence and the moral agent (moral agency). Linked to autonomous systems and practical wisdom: How Aristotle’s idea of virtues and practical wisdom can contribute to the understanding of tactical competence.

The overall idea is that the students familiarize themselves with the debate, delve into the problems, analyse and evaluate, in order to put the building blocks together in the examination assignment and, above all, fulfull learning objectives. The course also includes two seminars.

Type of Instruction
  • Lectures
  • Seminars

Objectives

After completed course the participant should be able to:

Knowledge and understanding
  • Describe and categorize tactical and ethical aspects of the use of autonomous systems.

Competence and skills
  • Analyze and argue for different positions regarding tactical and ethical aspects of autonomous systems.

Evaluation abilities and approach
  • Evaluate arguments in the debate on tactical and ethical aspects of autonomous systems.
  • Apply a critical scientific approach to problematize the relationship between professional practice and science.

Examination formats

Grading
Grades are set according to a three-grade scale: Pass with merit (VG), Pass (G) and Fail (U).

A pass (G) requires a pass (G) for the written unsupervised assignment.

A pass with merit (VG) requires a pass with merit (VG) for the written unsupervised assignment.

The number of examination opportunities is regulated in the agreement between the Swedish National Defense College and the client. In the normal case, an examination opportunity and a re-examination are offered.

Other regulations

On the completion of the course, an evaluation will be conducted under the auspices of the course director, which will form the basis for any changes to the course.

This is an edited version of the syllabus, created to transfer the original to the education database Ladok education planning. For originals, refer to the archive.
Reading list decided date: 2026-05-27
(A selection from these books and articles will be made. Additional literature will be included up to a maximum of 100 pages, and some articles might be changed. The texts (articles and book excerpts) will be provided via Canvas where permitted, or, when this is not the case, instructions will be given on where they can be accessed.)

Altmann, J. & Sauer, F. (2017) Autonomous Weapon Systems and Strategic Stability, Survival, 59:5, 117-142,

Amoroso, D. and Tamburrini, G. (forthcoming). What makes “meaningful” the human control over weapons systems? in Giacomello, Moro and Valigi (eds.), Technology and International Relations: The New Frontier in Global Power, Edward Elgar

Van Creveld, Martin. (2010) Technology and war: from 2000 B.C. to the present. New York: The Free Press. P. 1.

Finkel, M. (2011). On Flexibility: Recovery from Technological and Doctrinal Surprise on the Battlefield. Stanford University Press.

Hew, P.C. (2016), ‘Preserving a combat commander’s moral agency: The Vincennes Incident as a Chinese Room’, Ethics and Information Technology, 18, pp. 227-235

Johansson, L. (2011). Is it morally right to use UAVs in war? Philosophy and Technology, vol. 11, issue 3, 279-291.

Kraut, Richard, "Aristotle's Ethics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/aristotle-ethics/>.
Margulies, P. (2017), ‘Making autonomous weapons accountable: command responsibility for computerguided lethal force in armed conflicts’, in J.D. Ohlin (ed), Research Handbook on Remote Warfare, Cheltenham UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, pp. 405-442

Olsthoorn, P. (2011). Military Ethics and Virtues. An interdisciplinary approach for the 21st century. Cass Military Studies, New York.

Santoni de Sio, F., van den Hoven, J. (2018). Meaningful Human Control over Autonomos Systems: A Philosophical Account. Frontiers in Robotics and AI. Vol 5, art. 15.

Saxon, D. (2016). “Autonomous drones and individual criminal responsibility,” in Drones and Responsibility: Legal, Philosophical, and Socio-Technical Perspectives on the Use of Remotely Controlled Weapons, eds E. Di Nucci and F. Santoni de Sio (Routledge), 17–46.

Scharre, P. (2018) Army of None – Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War. Norton, New York.

Sparrow, R., Lucas, G. (2016). When Robots rule the waves? Naval War College Review. Vol 69, No. 4.

Sörenson, K. and Widén, J. (2014). Irregular Warfare and Tactical Changes: The Case of Somali Piracy. Terrorism and Political Violence, 26:399–418, p. 402.
Reading list decided date: 2020-06-05
(Selection of)

Altmann, J. & Sauer, F. (2017) Autonomous Weapon Systems and Strategic Stability, Survival, 59:5, 117-142,

Amoroso, D. and Tamburrini, G. (forthcoming). What makes “meaningful” the human control over weapons systems? in Giacomello, Moro and Valigi (eds.), Technology and International Relations: The New Frontier in Global Power, Edward Elgar

Van Creveld, Martin. (2010) Technology and war: from 2000 B.C. to the present. New York: The Free Press. P. 1.

Finkel, M. (2011). On Flexibility: Recovery from Technological and Doctrinal Surprise on the Battlefield. Stanford University Press.

Hew, P.C. (2016), ‘Preserving a combat commander’s moral agency: The Vincennes Incident as a Chinese Room’, Ethics and Information Technology, 18, pp. 227-235

Johansson, L. (2011). Is it morally right to use UAVs in war? Philosophy and Technology, vol. 11, issue 3, 279-291.

Kraut, Richard, "Aristotle's Ethics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .

Margulies, P. (2017), ‘Making autonomous weapons accountable: command responsibility for computerguided lethal force in armed conflicts’, in J.D. Ohlin (ed), Research Handbook on Remote Warfare, Cheltenham UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, pp. 405-442

Olsthoorn, P. (2011). Military Ethics and Virtues. An interdisciplinary approach for the 21st century. Cass Military Studies, New York.

Santoni de Sio, F., van den Hoven, J. (2018). Meaningful Human Control over Autonomos Systems: A Philosophical Account. Frontiers in Robotics and AI. Vol 5, art. 15.

Saxon, D. (2016). “Autonomous drones and individual criminal responsibility,” in Drones and Responsibility: Legal, Philosophical, and Socio-Technical Perspectives on the Use of Remotely Controlled Weapons, eds E. Di Nucci and F. Santoni de Sio (Routledge), 17–46.

Scharre, P. (2018) Army of None – Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War. Norton, New York.

Sparrow, R., Lucas, G. (2016). When Robots rule the waves? Naval War College Review. Vol 69, No. 4.

Sörenson, K. and Widén, J. (2014). Irregular Warfare and Tactical Changes: The Case of Somali Piracy. Terrorism and Political Violence, 26:399–418, p. 402.