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I will respond to you. I very much admire your questions, and the mind behind them. > But I ask - if a crime against humanity is committed but it takes humani

by chasil 3y ago

I will respond to you. I very much admire your questions, and the mind behind them. > But I ask - if a crime against humanity is committed but it takes humanity some time to recoil and it goes unpunished, is it not a crime? You must admit that crime is subjective. Let us consider leaded gasoline and freon: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Midgley_Jr https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Midgley_Jr. This man is a supervillain of the environment. He was a hero of his day. Accolades are subjective. >But overall, the arguments, except for a few, are weak with hindsight. We must escape from many things, to escape from our past. Are you sure that you know them all? Pride, wrath, sloth, lust, greed, envy, and gluttony. To pursue: Humility, meekness, zeal, chastity, generosity, charity, and temperance.

clnq 3y ago
Thanks for your thoughts, I think the context you're contributing is fantastic. In both cases, the men have committed a severe injustice to society. And in both cases, it seems like they knew better than to do it, but chose to do it, anyways. I don't know if I can absolve Midgley of his moral duties to society in my mind, similar to Freeman. What's a crime is a bit subjective, but different frameworks give us different definitions. Legally, a crime is something that breaks a norm enshrined in law. It is not unlikely that these men have not committed crimes in that sense. Morally, a crime is a deliberate injustice that harms others. With this definition, I think that these men have committed crimes. And in some ways, it would be easier to forgive them, if they would admit to having committed a crime or an injustice. There's a very interesting talk by Elizabeth Bruenig on this [0], and she is much more articulate in philosophy than I will ever be. But I do think that once we can say that "if this person just admitted their wrongs, society could heal", that is some evidence of a moral crime having been committed. > Pride, wrath, sloth, lust, greed, envy, and gluttony I am not a religious man, but I think this is a good framework to judge the actions of Midgley and Freeman through. I would also add callous, ruthless ambition to that list. Allowing men like this to succeed is certainly nothing to be proud of for us as society. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87EYmV6v_nE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87EYmV6v_nE

by chasil 3y ago

clnq 3y ago

Thanks for your thoughts, I think the context you're contributing is fantastic. In both cases, the men have committed a severe injustice to society. And in both cases, it seems like they knew better than to do it, but chose to do it, anyways. I don't know if I can absolve Midgley of his moral duties to society in my mind, similar to Freeman. What's a crime is a bit subjective, but different frameworks give us different definitions. Legally, a crime is something that breaks a norm enshrined in law. It is not unlikely that these men have not committed crimes in that sense. Morally, a crime is a deliberate injustice that harms others. With this definition, I think that these men have committed crimes. And in some ways, it would be easier to forgive them, if they would admit to having committed a crime or an injustice. There's a very interesting talk by Elizabeth Bruenig on this [0], and she is much more articulate in philosophy than I will ever be. But I do think that once we can say that "if this person just admitted their wrongs, society could heal", that is some evidence of a moral crime having been committed. > Pride, wrath, sloth, lust, greed, envy, and gluttony I am not a religious man, but I think this is a good framework to judge the actions of Midgley and Freeman through. I would also add callous, ruthless ambition to that list. Allowing men like this to succeed is certainly nothing to be proud of for us as society. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87EYmV6v_nE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87EYmV6v_nE