"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal
Brandon has a good discussion of the decision to use atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in light of G.E.M. Anscombe’s “Mr. Truman’s Degree” (which is, as far as I can tell, not available on the web).
Brandon is right to distinguish Truman’s moral culpability from the question of the justness of the act itself. The former is ultimately not up to us to judge, but the latter is necessary for us to make judgments about.
I posted some excerpts from Anscombe’s “War and Murder” here.
Any idea where either of the Anscombe pieces can be had, even on paper? Maybe old, out of print paper?
There are two or three volumes of Anscombe’s Collected Philosophical Papers that are either in print or can be obtained at a decent library. I’m not sure if “Mr. Truman’s Degree” is in there or not. “War and Murder” is also commonly found in ethics anthologies.
Both pieces are in the Collected Papers. At present you can find “War and Murder” online in PDF format here. “Mr. Truman’s Degree” is nowhere online; my post summarizing the argument of the essay (mentioned by Amy Welborn in the post I link to in the post Lee mentions) is probably my most-visited post because it seems to be the only place on the internet where one can find anything at all from the essay itself.
A Thinking Reed 
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