The Scientist Ethical Qualms
As work progressed on the development of the A-bomb, some of the scientists working at Los Alamos, NM, began to question the ethical implications of the Manhattan project. This reading and response brings together five perspectives speaking to this issue.
It is a nice thought to know that the scientists did feel the need to talk about the implications that their work would have upon the world, that they were not just blindly creating weapons of mass destruction just for scientific reasons or monetary compensation. It is interesting that “no official records” were kept of the meetings (p 284). So what we have now is only the word of the scientist of what was actually said i8n those meetings. In this reading I did not see an issue with what was said on the debate the scientist had, however I could see this becoming an issue if one of the scientists who may have been for the use of the atomic bomb felt the need to deny their previous thoughts.
I also find it interesting that the only real argument in using the bomb was because Oppenheimer felt that the world should know about the weapons of mass destruction that “mankind” had invented. That the war could not end without this knowledge bing shared with the world. It could not be allowed to become a “military secret” that would then allow for the “next war” to be fought with atomic weapons on all sides. It was important that the delegates of the United Nations be able to discuss postwar issues with “knowledge that mankind had invented these weapons of mass destruction”. I feel that this is a good argument in the sense that the world did need to know that these weapons were being created and also that the United Nations should have this information when making post war decisions. However, I feel that this could have been done still without the physical act of dropping the bombs. What I gathered from this reading, Oppenheimer was a very charismatic man (p 286), who with the right and elegant words, and his charming personality was able to convince others of his views. Which in many ways is unfortunate. Hitler showed the world what one can do with the power of words and charisma. It is not always in the best interest for everyone. I feel that it did help that many of the scientists, including Wilson, on some level wanted to be convinced that the detonation of the bomb was the right thing.
The train of thought that I fell should have had more weight on the opposition side was “We did have a pretty intense discussion of why it was that we were continuing to make a bomb after the war had been virtually won (p 284).” Also the other idea being, “Now that it seemed so clear that the gadget would not be used on the Germans, he [Wilson] and many others in the room had doubts but on answers. ‘I [Wilson] thought we were fighting the Nazis, not the Japanese particularly’. (p 285)” I feel that if the scientists had looked at these thoughts a bit more closely and come to a conclusion that the world could know about that atomic technology without its detonation then perhaps the question of “Why?” Why is the United States still determined to drop this bomb if the war is just about over and the Japanese do not even have atomic weapons to join in this new technology war, who could then be dealt with in the “usual” or “existing” means of military tactics; then why would the United States still want to use this weapon of mass destruction?
One of the readings that shocked me the most was the “Scientists Petition the President (p 291).” The most shocking and concerning part of this was that though, 155 signatures of Manhattan Project Scientists were on the petition, “Neither Stimson nor the President saw the petition before the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima (p 291).” This petition was in response to a hugely important topic on the use of weapons of mass destruction. The President, being the Commander-in-chief, most certainly should have received and read this petition in time; before making the decision to detonate the bomb on Hiroshima. The petition make a great amount of logical sense as well. The scientists are saying that they would advise against the use of the bomb. However, if the president still feels its use is necessary to first give the Japanese people a chance. To wait until “the terms which will be imposed after the war on the Japan were made public in detail and Japan were given an opportunity to surrender (p 292)” If then, the Japanese refused to surrender and ignore the terms, then and only then could the President, with serious consideration of the “moral responsibilities which are involved (p 293),” use the bomb as a last resort.
There are many different ideas on if and how the Atomic bomb should have been used. I feel there were many good arguments that were in opposition to the use of the bomb and I so do wish they would have taken those debates into better account, however it seems that Oppenheimer won out the debate. The bomb was sent, whether some wanted it or not.
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