3 ms·

It just seems to me to be the pinnacle of narcissism that so many people apply judgement according to modern value systems to historical figures. There isn't a

by JPKab 5y ago

It just seems to me to be the pinnacle of narcissism that so many people apply judgement according to modern value systems to historical figures. There isn't a single one of us who couldn't be judged harshly in the context of a future values system decades from now, but the most judgmental among us assume that we are the first generation to be enlightened enough to harshly judge all who came before. It's a narcissistic, juvenile attitude, once laughed at as a teenage right-of-passage practiced by naive, Che Guevara worshipping cloaked in fashionable self-righteousness. Now it's morphed into a quasi-religion, complete with performative acts of piety designed to boost in-group status amongst the adherents.

FredPret 5y ago
Perhaps this sort of immaturity produces the sort of crisis that is it’s own cure
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
rTX5CMRXIfFG 5y ago
Er, the idea of moral objectivism isn’t reserved to teenagers and has long been a serious school of thought on its own. For someone who calls others judgmental and narcissistic, you’re pretty judgmental yourself especially to views of morality that don’t align with your own. I think you’re running off the assumption that there’s no objective basis for morality and the sense for it simply changes over time, but don’t you think that the changes over time reflect progress in ethical wisdom in the same way that science progresses in terms of knowledge over time? For example, is believing in the equal rights of women, African-American, and LGBT people narcissistic (we used to think of them as less, many still do) or is it just the right thing to do and the old value system was objectively wrong to oppress them? The stupid things you did as a child—were they stupid only because you’re older now, or were they categorically stupid? Was burning witches actually OK? How about the way that justice was administered in terms of the Old Testament or the Quran, was that also OK? I struggle to see where you can insert the narcissistic aspect here.

by JPKab 5y ago

FredPret 5y ago

Perhaps this sort of immaturity produces the sort of crisis that is it’s own cure

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

rTX5CMRXIfFG 5y ago

Er, the idea of moral objectivism isn’t reserved to teenagers and has long been a serious school of thought on its own. For someone who calls others judgmental and narcissistic, you’re pretty judgmental yourself especially to views of morality that don’t align with your own. I think you’re running off the assumption that there’s no objective basis for morality and the sense for it simply changes over time, but don’t you think that the changes over time reflect progress in ethical wisdom in the same way that science progresses in terms of knowledge over time? For example, is believing in the equal rights of women, African-American, and LGBT people narcissistic (we used to think of them as less, many still do) or is it just the right thing to do and the old value system was objectively wrong to oppress them? The stupid things you did as a child—were they stupid only because you’re older now, or were they categorically stupid? Was burning witches actually OK? How about the way that justice was administered in terms of the Old Testament or the Quran, was that also OK? I struggle to see where you can insert the narcissistic aspect here.