Emotions and A-bombs

I found these pieces incredibly moving, especially the memoirs of survivors and those affected by the atomic bombs. As I sat here reading, and to be honest, crying at times, I couldn't help but wonder why the forefathers of ethics focused so heavily on rationality, with a seeming aversion to emotions. Are the two even dichotomous or mutually exclusive? While it is commonly argued that rationality comes from reason and facts, and that emotions cloud our ability to reason, I believe it can be equally irrational to not listen to emotions. I don’t believe that the reason we have morality is because we have rationality. I believe it must be an intersection of the two, and that maybe morality is something that comes from the inseverable ties of rationality and emotions that come with being a human being.

Now, getting to the atomic bomb- the way we are taught in many high school history classes, is that the atomic bomb was dropped and that it was the only way we could have stopped the war. One reason I think that this is a morally wrong argument is that it fails to acknowledge the pain and suffering the bomb caused then and still causes today. It is a suffering that at least I, cannot fathom. I believe a failure to feel remorse and disgust for the actions of our military, or to not consider the emotional outcomes of this event is indicative of moral shortcoming. To bridge the gap between emotional appeals and rational appeals, I believe that the atom bomb arguments that they were necessary are irrational as well. This argument is much like the fire with fire argument we discussed in class and speaks to the quote by F.W. de Klerk that we… “have learned that true security comes from our ability to solve complex problems peacefully rather than by imagining that we can achieve anything by threatening ultimate destruction.” I believe that this mode of thinking is applicable to atomic bomb arguments. This argument does get trickier when trying to defend it in terms of always attempting to solve all problems peacefully and thinking about a group like Boko Haram. However, I think this more so speaks to our inability to conceive of other ways of thinking and functioning as a global society—much like the argument stating the Ancient Greeks knew slavery was wrong, they just couldn't conceive of an alternative economic system.