5 ms·

here's my favorite quote from C.S. Lewis: >“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be

here's my favorite quote from C.S. Lewis: >“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.” - C.S. Lewis edit: pedantry

acqq 8y ago
"from him"? The article is not about C.S. Lewis, only about Neil Postman.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
remarkEon 8y ago
Link to this?
- gnarbarian 8y ago
  https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/526469-of-all-tyrannies-a-tyranny-sincerely-exercised-for-the-good https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/526469-of-all-tyrannies-a-t...
- dbatten 8y ago
  The particular essay in question is "On the Humanitarian Theory of Punishment." Here's a PDF: https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/073-02_055.pdf https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/073-02_055.pdf
Terr_ 8y ago
Reminds me of a later author: > She knew what she feared—to be locked up in some dark, narrow place by people who loved her. An enemy might drop his guard, weary of his task, turn his back; love would never falter. -- Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold
dbatten 8y ago
I suspect most readers on HN will see this as a warning against religious tyranny when it's actually a warning against attempting to rehabilitate criminals rather than simply punishing them justly for their crime... Interestingly, the former is likely a rather popular notion here, while I imagine the latter viewpoint is fairly unpopular. Here's the full essay: https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/073-02_055.pdf https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/073-02_055.pdf
- n4r9 8y ago
  Interesting essay. More generally it seems to be a reaction against a perceived authoritarian-Leftist tendency to view people as programmable cogs in the machine of society. Cogs that can be reprogrammed to make everything run more smoothly. In some sense it strikes at the core distinction between deontological and utilitarian ethics (as I understand those terms). I wonder what he would think of the "Bastoy" prison island in Norway: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-prison-inmates-treated-like-people https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-pr...

acqq 8y ago

"from him"? The article is not about C.S. Lewis, only about Neil Postman.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

remarkEon 8y ago

Link to this?

gnarbarian 8y ago
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/526469-of-all-tyrannies-a-tyranny-sincerely-exercised-for-the-good https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/526469-of-all-tyrannies-a-t...
dbatten 8y ago
The particular essay in question is "On the Humanitarian Theory of Punishment." Here's a PDF: https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/073-02_055.pdf https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/073-02_055.pdf

Terr_ 8y ago

Reminds me of a later author: > She knew what she feared—to be locked up in some dark, narrow place by people who loved her. An enemy might drop his guard, weary of his task, turn his back; love would never falter. -- Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold

dbatten 8y ago

I suspect most readers on HN will see this as a warning against religious tyranny when it's actually a warning against attempting to rehabilitate criminals rather than simply punishing them justly for their crime... Interestingly, the former is likely a rather popular notion here, while I imagine the latter viewpoint is fairly unpopular. Here's the full essay: https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/073-02_055.pdf https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/073-02_055.pdf

n4r9 8y ago
Interesting essay. More generally it seems to be a reaction against a perceived authoritarian-Leftist tendency to view people as programmable cogs in the machine of society. Cogs that can be reprogrammed to make everything run more smoothly. In some sense it strikes at the core distinction between deontological and utilitarian ethics (as I understand those terms). I wonder what he would think of the "Bastoy" prison island in Norway: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-prison-inmates-treated-like-people https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-pr...