Military Physician Edward Bright Vedder’s Efforts to Legitimize Healing and Harming Using Western Just War Theory, 1899-1949

Authors

  • Serenity Sutherland University of Rochester

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v4i7.96

Keywords:

guerra química, beriberi, teoría de la guerra justa, médico militar, medicina, daño colateral, problema de la doble lealtad

Abstract

Title: Military Physician Edward Bright Vedder’s Efforts to Legitimize Healing and Harming Using Western Just War Theory, 1899-19491.

Título: Los esfuerzos del médico militar Edward Bright Vedder por legitimar la curación y la agresión sirviéndose de la teoría occidental de la Guerra Justa, 1899-1949.

 

[EN]Abstract: This paper examines the career of military physician Edward Bright Vedder from the Philippine-American War (1899-1902) to the end of the Second World War (1945). Vedder helped discover the cure for beriberi while simultaneously promoting chemical weapons, calling the former a “needless sacrifice” and the latter “humane.” He believed both chemical warfare and beriberi saved lives. Drawing on Vedder’s unpublished memoir, Fifty Years in Medicine, and the canon of just war theorists, this work offers a case study of how one military physician used Western military theory, specifically the principle of double effect (or collateral damage), to rationalize the problem of dual loyalty. 

Keywords: chemical warfare, beriberi, just war theory, military physician, medicine, collateral damage, problem of dual loyalty 


[ES] Resumen: Este artículo examina el papel del médico militar Edward Bright Vedder desde la Guerra filipino-estadounidense (1899-1902) hasta el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial (1945). Vedder contribuyó a descubrir la cura para el beriberi al tiempo que promovía las armas químicas, denominando al primero “innecesario sacrificio” y a las segundas “humanas.” El creyó que tanto la guerra química como el beriberi salvaban vidas. Valiéndome de las memorias inéditas de Vedder, Fifty Years in Medicine, y el canon de los teóricos de la guerra justa este trabajo plantea un caso de estudio sobre cómo un médico militar utilizó la teoría militar occidental, específicamente el principio del doble efecto (o daño colateral) para racionalizar el problema de la doble lealtad.

Palabras clave: guerra química, beriberi, teoría de la guerra justa, médico militar, medicina, daño colateral, problema de la doble lealtad

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Author Biography

  • Serenity Sutherland, University of Rochester

    Serenity Sutherland, Ph.D., ABD, University of Rochester, History Department. Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies, Susan B. Anthony Institute, University of Rochester, 2014. B.S., Environmental Management and Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2010 and B.A., History and English/Creative Writing, SUNY Binghamton, 2006

References

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FUENTES ARCHIVÍSTICAS

New York State Archives, Motion Picture Scripts Collection

Papers of Edward Bright Vedder, Edward G. Miner Library, University of Rochester

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Published

2015-11-26

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 7 (2015)

Section

Estudios

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How to Cite

Military Physician Edward Bright Vedder’s Efforts to Legitimize Healing and Harming Using Western Just War Theory, 1899-1949. (2015). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 4(7), 7-22. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v4i7.96

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