Tagged: Ethics

4

Ancient Vengeance

It is a main thrust of philosophical Liberalism (and of ancient Stoicism) that human beings have a duty to rise above not only animal but parochial and sectarian passions.  Any attempt to justify revenge must therefore represent a step back toward the jungle from which we escaped all too recently.

6

Modern Philosophers Against Revenge

No argument drawn from biological necessity would impress philosophers who, since the Enlightenment, have often written as if man were either naturally good or was only weakly endowed with a bundle of propensities known by philosophers as human nature or, by Christians, as “the old Adam.”

1

Reason vs. Passion

Robert E. Lee, who in so many ways epitomized the highest ideas of Christian civility, summed up the common feeling in his famous statement that, “Duty is the most sublime word in our language,” adding the injunction: “Do your duty in all things.  You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less.”

21

In Defense of Our Children

Authorities are prioritizing keeping violent criminals out on the streets rather than behind bars where they belong.  It’s time to consider a  more effective and permanent alternative to  incarceration.