Third Source: Oppenheimer's
Choice Reflections from Moral Philosophy by Richard Mason
This
book examines the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer who accepted leadership of the
Manhattan Project at the Los Alamos Laboratory in 1942, which under his
leadership produced the first atomic bomb. The author analyzes the ethics and judgment
of Oppenheimer’s choices during his work. He uses the example of Oppenheimer as
a base to further investigate many subjects in scientific ethics. The book
investigates the question of responsibility in scientific study. There is a hard
question of whether or not scientists are responsible for how their research is
used. Can we have scientific curiosity and pure research with such possible
devastating outcomes? This book uses Oppenheimer’s life to try and answer
questions like these.
i.
Introduction
a. Aim
of the book
b. Background
about Oppenheimer
ii.
Chapter One
a. Analysis
of ethics
iii.
Chapter Two
a. Background
about Oppenheimer
b. Introduction
to his job
iv.
Chapter Three
a. Oppenheimer’s
reflection of his job and actions
b. Farewell
speech and analysis
v.
Chapter Four
a. Value
of Knowledge
b. Scientific
curiosity
vi.
Chapter Five
a. Oppenheimer’s
choice to help build the bomb
b. Oppenheimer’s
responsibility for the building of the bomb
vii.
Chapter Six
a. The
first step into a new era
b. The
significance of this step
viii.
Chapter Seven
a. Purity
of scientific research
b. The
reality of research
ix.
Chapter Eight
a. Lessons
of history
b. What
we learned
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