Elizabeth Anscombe made hugely influential contributions to contemporary action theory, moral theory, and philosophy of mind. She also famously protested Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb when he was awarded an honorary degree at Oxford. Josh and Ray explore her life and thought with Rachael Wiseman from the University of Liverpool, co-author of Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life.
Part of our Wise Women series, generously supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Comments (4)
msorensen64
Saturday, January 18, 2025 -- 2:34 PM
I have to disagree withI have to disagree with Elizabeth Anscombe’s declaration of Truman as a mass murderer. This conclusion seems at major odds with her elevation of intentions. In fact, it appears obvious that Truman’s intention was to save lives rather than murder people. The choice was between the deaths of perhaps 1 million people if we had to mount a land invasion of the home islands of Japan, and the loss of far fewer by dropping the bombs. It was clear that imperial Japan was fighting nearly to the last man in previous battles such as Okinawa, in which 240,000 were killed. Nor was it rational to leave the home islands alone, based on imperial Japan’s records of genocide and murder in China and elsewhere.
In Anscombe’s view, it seems as though any decision in war that takes lives would be impermissible. Of course the taking of lives is horrible, but in cases of unavoidable war, some decisions are the best of a set of horrible choices.
Thank you for your show. Always thought-provoking.
Daniel
Sunday, January 19, 2025 -- 5:29 PM
You raise an importantYou raise an important historical question decidable by the facts of the case, the most important of which is the alleged perpetrator's intent which you assert was to save lives, not unnecessarily take them. Speaking then of the intent alone, what role did determination of the post-war situation over against the Soviet Union play in that intent in the decision to strike the civilian target? And what about the second bomb over Nagasaki? Could one postulate a different intent there?
Whissed
Tuesday, February 11, 2025 -- 12:53 AM
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