Loyalty as a Virtue and as a Value

This article explores the concept of loyalty, particularly in the context of the military. In that context, loyalty is generally seen as a virtue. Outside that context, most ethicists see loyalty as a “gray” virtue at best. And not without reason: the fact that most militaries tend to stress loyalty is a cause of both unethical behavior and the cover-ups following incidents. For a better understanding of the mechanisms behind such incidents, it is helpful to distinguish between loyalty to a group and loyalty to principles such as justice, as it is only the former that leads to unethical behavior and cover-ups. Regrettably, most militaries define loyalty as loyalty to the organization and colleagues. This article suggests that militaries could promote loyalty to the military profession as a feasible middle ground between morally questionable group loyalty and the perhaps too-hard-to-attain loyalty to principle.