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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Air warfare--Psychological aspects;

Abstract

is a study probing some of the ethical problems involved in the use of weapons of aerial warfare against cities and civilian noncombatants. The method used has been an examination and analysis of the moral reactions of prominent atomic scientists and Christian theologians. Chapter 1 is concerned with the history of air warfare from 1914 to 1940, tracing the uses of the airplane from the time it was first introduced into combat to the time of the United States entry into World War II. Particular attention is given to the Spanish Civil War and to the Italian campaign against Ethiopia. Chapter II is concerned with the Christian conscience from 1940 to 1945. The chapter is divided into four major areas of consideration: pre-obliteration bombing; obliteration bombing; the robot bomb and the attempt by American Catholic and Protestant theologians to formulate a unified ethical position in regard to air warfare. An analysis of the various Christian positions in regard to these four phases of the war is presented or particular importance are the attempts of theologians to fit air warfare against noncombatants into the Christian concept of the just war which dates back to the rule of the Roman Constantine.

Attention is also given to the efforts of pacifists who sought to pursuade [sic] the general public and the professional Christian community of the immorality of air war. The succeeding chapter titled "Conscience of American Scientists" traces the moral reactions of the men involved in the manufacture of the atomic bomb and their attitudes toward its possible use. The scientific community was divided against itself as to what it considered the proper use of the bomb. For example, Leo Szilard and James Franck favored either abstaining from the use of the bomb or demonstrating its power before a group of international observers. Other atomic scientists, including J. Robert Oppenheimer and Arthur Compton, advocated that the atomic bomb be used directly against Japan. In this chapter the birth and development of these divergent schools of thought is described and analyzed. Chapter IV is concerned with the Christian conscience after the surprise atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Theologians who could not agree as to the morality of conventional air war cried out in unison against the use of atomic weapons against noncombatants. The study is concluded with a comparison of the moral attitudes of theologians and scientists toward the manufacture and possible use of hydrogen bombs during the early 1950's.

Year of Submission

1966

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Social Science

First Advisor

Harold B. Wohl

Second Advisor

Howard J. Thompson

Third Advisor

David R. Bluhm

Comments

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Date Original

1966

Object Description

1 PDF file (165 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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