The Justifications Of The Atomic Bombing Of Hiroshima And...

The justifications of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been continuously debated since the time of occurrence. The variety of approaches towards the topic often times lead to ambiguous conclusions that leave debaters dumbfounded. Primarily, there are two moral reasonings that analysts of the event utilize: the utilitarian approach and ethical tradition. The utilitarian approach determines the goodness or evil of an action by its consequences (Holt). It has been said that this approach led the United States to reduce innocents to instruments and morality to arithmetic during World War II (Holt). By contrast, ethical tradition rooting from Judeo-Christian theology holds that some actions cannot be justified by their consequences, rather they are absolutely forbidden (Holt). The problem is, however, that this absolutist morality is difficult to apply to war. This tradition does hold attacking a military target knowing some innocents will die as a side effect as permissible (Holt). The utilitarian approach tends to support the decision to use the atomic bombs when the consequences are believed to be believed to be beneficial towards the nation’s interest. Ethical tradition tends to view the use of atomic bombs as an atrocious action of the United States. A viewpoint that mediates between the two approaches, however, is given the circumstances of World War II in 1945, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki can be excused but not justified. Truman’sShow MoreRelatedWas Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki Necessary to End World War 2?1650 Words   |  7 Pagesof an atomic bomb landing over Hiroshima and Nagasaki to finalize the war. To this day there is still controversy that if that atomic bomb was actually necessary to end the war, because of the number of innocent casualties suffered from the Japanese. 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