Ethical Dilemmas in Leadership: A Historical Perspective

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Week Four-Assignment B German Philosopher, Immanuel Kant once said, “In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so” (1800). The word ethics refers to “character” and “conduct” (Northouse, 2015, p. 330). It is deeply “concerned with the virtuousness of individuals and their motives” and “the kinds of values and morals an individual or a society finds desirable or appropriate” (Northouse, 2015, p. 330). Thus, “in regards to leadership, ethics is concerned with what leaders do and who leaders are” (Northouse, 2015, p. 330). Ethics in leadership allows leaders to make decisions regarding what is virtuous or not in a situation. All throughout the history of American government, difficult decisions have been made and the fight for ethics has always been “implicitly or explicitly involved” (Northouse, 2015, p. 330). On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45) President Harry S. Truman commanded the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (History.com Staff, 2009, p. 1). An “American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima” (History.com Staff, 2009, p. 1). This massive explosion completely obliterated approximately “90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more …show more content…

The alternatives to end World War II, such as the ground invasion of Japan, were extremely costly and only promised a lack of guarantee that the United States would be victorious and that the war could end honorable. The truth is, the rights of citizens of Japan were undeniably violated yet millions of American lives were saved. It is an ambiguous standpoint to conclude whether the United States made the most ethical decision. It may have been the most effective and even correct decision, yet was it ethical? Ethics seemingly both failed and were victorious in this

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