Ethics of conviction and civic responsibility: Conscientious war resisters in America during the World Wars

In spite of their long history in the United States, conscientious objectors to war have always been in the minority. Only a handful of objectors dissented against World Wars I and II, and their voices were influential neither in respect to the state's war policy nor public opinion. However, the significance of conscientious objection lies in the challenges it poses to the state: the legitimacy of its employment of violence as a means to solve problems is questioned; and conscientious objectors, by refusing to participate in state-based violence, challenge the authority of the state to mobilize its citizens.; This dissertation examines these challenges by conscientious objectors during World Wars I and II. Two major questions frame the investigation: How did conscientious objectors express their conviction in the face of the state's imperative for war? On what basis did conscientious objectors define their unorthodox civic responsibility and act upon it in periods of war?; This study utilizes diaries, letters, memoirs, and accounts and statements of firsthand experience by conscientious objectors, both published and unpublished, as major sources. It focuses on "absolutist" objectors---those who refused to perform non-combatant duties in the armed forces or alternative civilian service in designated camps.; The empirical data are examined by reference to Max Weber's concepts "ethic of conviction" and "ethic of responsibility." While the ethic of conviction adequately addressed one side of the individual-society tension experienced by conscientious objectors, evaluation of the data required a modification of Weber's ethic of responsibility. An "ethic of civic responsibility," which more powerfully addresses and clarifies this tension, is formulated. Taken together, the ethic of conviction and the ethic of civic responsibility provide a framework for understanding both the conviction-oriented individualism of objectors and their orientation to civic values.; This dissertation concludes that in spite of the individual-society tension experienced by conscientious objectors, a capacity uniquely to combine an ethic of conviction with an ethic of civic responsibility characterizes most conscientious objectors in this study.