Such a weapon goes far beyond any military objective and enters the range of very great natural catastrophes. By its very nature it cannot be confined to a military objective but becomes a weapon which in practical effect is almost one of genocide. It is clear that the use of such a weapon cannot be justified on any ethical ground which gives a human being a certain individuality and dignity even if he happens to be a resident of an enemy country... The fact that no limits exist to the destructiveness of this weapon makes its very existence and the knowledge of its construction a danger to humanity as a whole. It is necessarily an evil thing considered in any light.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Nuclear weapons cause indiscriminate destruction and raise profound ethical issues beyond military goals.
- In plain terms
- Weapons like these destroy too much and cannot be justified.
- What can you take from it?
- Some technologies pose dangers too great for use.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can any weapon ever be ethical?
- How do we stop what is already built?
Another view
Deterrence theory argues these weapons prevent bigger wars.
More from Enrico Fermi
Although the problem of transmuting chemical elements into each other is much older than a satisfactory definition of the very concept of chemical element, it …
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