Morality of the nuclear deterrent: The decision flowchart project

'The most important moral choices ever to face mankind'

After more than 60 years in the shadow of global nuclear destruction we face the same arguments, the same entrenched positions as in 1945.

Here is a totally different approach, a way for people to explore, rationally, the logic of the arguments:

Nuclear morality flowchart project

Everyone in the world is threatened by the existence of nuclear weapons. Has anyone the right to wield such destructive power?

Everyone has a right to ask this question, and those who live in countries possessing nuclear weapons have a duty to answer it. It has to be a personal moral decision, because if you accept nuclear weapons for your defence, then morally you hold them in your own hands.

This is the website for the Morality of the Nuclear Deterrent flowchart - an analysis of deterrent morality configured as a 'decision tree' to help people decide where they stand and to make national decision makers more accountable.

To initiate, renew or maintain a nuclear deterrent, a nation has to make significant decisions. Is there, in every case, sufficient consideration of the ethical dimension of the decision? Is it reconcilable with the standards which underpin the social fabric of national life? All responsible citizens will give this urgent consideration.

The new on-line interactive version of the Nuclear Morality Flowchart enables you to resolve the ethics of nuclear deterrence, for yourself, right here, right now.

Complete the flowchart on-line

Work out and record your own solution to the flowchart on screen
(Currently available in English only)

Download the flowchart as a PDF

English

Dutch

Farsi

Vision and objectives

Our vision is that global elimination of nuclear weapons can be achieved when the mass of public opinion endorses and reinforces morally accountable government decisions.

The project objectives are:

to provide the means for everyone to make a well-considered rational decision on the morality of using nuclear weapons as a deterrent,
to make the results of those decisions available as a global scorecard of informed opinion, and
to publicly challenge the decision-makers in the nuclear armed nations to make the same moral assessment of their policy.

We believe that all weapons of mass destruction are morally indefensible, but clearly not everyone thinks so. (In the UK, for example, one reason why the government intends to retain nuclear weapons is that many of its people still think this is a good policy.)

At the heart of this project therefore, is a process by which people can analyse, be confronted by, or clarify their thinking on this issue. This process has been developed as a decision flowchart. The flowchart is gaining acceptance as a practical contribution to the debate while being enhanced through careful application of feedback from users. This is the first phase of the project.

Rationale for the flowchart

We have to recognise that most of the people who think that the nuclear deterrent is a good idea are good people. They do not see an inconsistency between their position on the deterrent and everything else that they believe in.

Some moral confusion is not really surprising. What we have is a complex problem which is embedded in history and political culture. What seemed to be an 'answer' sixty years ago has grown to be a monster - a web of physical and moral dangers that could destroy the world.

In the face of this danger we need vigorous logic and sound arguments; but the place to resolve the problem is in people's minds. They must do this for themselves.

This is the basis for the decision flowchart. It is a simple way for individuals to face all the questions and the consequences - the lines of the flowchart connect one to the next relevant question so that both disarmers and defenders of deterrence have to face the consequences of their decisions and be responsible for them. The chart can also be used in a workshop or classroom study programme and as a powerful incentive for moral responsibility among decision makers in Government and Parliament.

Format

The project is relevant to any weapon of mass destruction that could be used in a deterrent mode, but for various practical reasons it is focussed on nuclear weapons. By limiting the scope to morality of nuclear weapons used as a deterrent it is feasible to present a basic analysis, with all the truly relevant questions, on one page. This is a critical feature - books have a wider scope, but on a single page the problem is far more accessible and the logic is inescapable.

There is a clear delineation between moral questions and other practical questions. All the questions are configured to have only two possible answers, basically Yes or No. At the level of the individual conscience the chart is an algorithm - that is a process whereby, if you put in the right data then you get the right answer - the right answer for you.

The flowchart is available as follows:

Work out and record your own solution on screen
Download and print the pdf version
Order A3 size printed copies by using the contact form below

The Project Plan

Phase 1. Provide a clear basis for personal decision
The flowchart is already gaining acceptance as a practical contribution to the debate. The on-line interactive version, newly available, will enable anyone to work out and save their own solution to the problem. Though basically a secular document it carries an invitation to faith communities to develop special versions - an opportunity to apply their teaching to an urgent moral problem.

Phase 2. Implement a popular decision process
We have to introduce the idea to all the people who care and ask them to participate. This is being done through contact with as many of the current players as possible, national and international, and will be extended to schools, universities, churches and other organisations, along with all the other sectors of civil society including the media.

The on-line interactive version makes the practical use of the chart globally available. We have the potential to build a global scorecard of analytical opinion. We expect a highly rational and therefore powerful response from those people around the world for whom it may well be unacceptable that a few countries should endanger the Earth for the sake of their own security.

Phase 3. Take the message to policy and decision makers
The third phase is to take these results and the chart to the responsible policy-makers, parliamentarians and governments. Working directly and via news media, we can require that they should have a complete, rational and morally accountable basis for their policy. In the simplest case, presented with a highlighter pen and a decision flowchart, they will have to demonstrate a moral and rational approach to the problem.

Getting involved

Steady expansion of possibilities means that we now require more human resources.

We continue to welcome constructive criticism and any helpful comments. We will be happy to hear from anyone who thinks they can help the project.

To know more, say what you think, or get involved, use our contact form:

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To achieve a popular decision process based on the flowchart we have to take it to the people.

How long will it take for humanity to escape from the nuclear danger?

This project is devised not by a moral philosopher but by a professional engineer, applying established methods in a new field to resolve a practical problem at global level.