Drows wrote:
>
At the time the decision was made the overwhelming concern was shortening
the war. If Truman had considered every possible future consequence of the
action, he would have died of old age before he could have made the
decision. Phaedrus' Law of Multiplying Hypothoses at work (ZMM). Even if
nuclear holocaust eventually happens that decision was absolutely moral from
the point of view of Truman and, by extension, the US.
I'm sure that the Japanese would probably disagree. I'm equally sure that if
the Japanese had the choice, the bomb would have fallen on the US. From
their standpoint, the decision would have been absolutely moral.
There is a relativism involved in this thread that I find unsettling. How
can we absolutely state that any particular decision is more or less moral
than any other decision? By deduction? Or by hindsight?
>
We could try to decide which of the two societies: Japanese or US was more supportive for the Intellectual values (freedom of speech, ideas, and individual choices, strength of democratic institutions ...) at the time of the bomb drop. IMO, US society was more conducive to the Intellect at the time.
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