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Reflections on the Guillotine (1957)

51 points by halperter 3mo ago

iwantitez 3mo ago
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- iwantitez 3mo ago
  [flagged]
LNSY 3mo ago
[flagged]
winter_blue 3mo ago
There's a summary of this essay on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflections_on_the_Guillotine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflections_on_the_Guillotine This is a 1957 essay by Algerian-French philosopher Albert Camus.
iwantitez 3mo ago
[flagged]
- iwantitez 3mo ago
  [flagged]
catapart 3mo ago
[flagged]
- iwantitez 3mo ago
  [flagged]
  - randallsquared 3mo ago
    > I saw a question once on Quora asking why the poor don’t rip the wealthy out of their houses and the top reply was “Nazi!” with hundreds of upvotes. This seems odd because it usually goes the other way: people complaining about the rich typically tar them as the "Nazis". For people against destroying the rich, the usual epithet for those who want to do so would be "commies"...
    - iwantitez 3mo ago
      [dead]
- senordevnyc 3mo ago
  This sounds like something I might have written at 15. Only fools who have never known the horrors of war or indiscriminate violence would wish for the world you’re fantasizing about.
  - deleted 3mo ago
    [deleted]
  - catapart 3mo ago
    [flagged]
    - senordevnyc 3mo ago
      lol, truly hilarious, you’re a software engineer cosplaying as a bloodthirsty class warrior on HN. But sure, you’ve seen some shit and you’ll make those evil rich people pay for all your horrible suffering. That’s enough keyboard warriors for one day for me, going to bed. Hope you find some peace.
- JKCalhoun 3mo ago
  "Anyway, yeah, your dad had a weak stomach…" Yeah, no we can still want justice and not want to be horrified by the act of execution for the rest of our lives. Or, I don't know, perhaps we can crush parts of their body one at a time. Or maybe set fire to their limbs one at a time. I mean, why not? (And never mind that if The State could, even once, execute someone who is innocent, it renders capital punishment instantly null and void in my mind.)
  - romanhounds 3mo ago
    And what's your solution for this gross asymmetry of wealth? "Engineers" working 4 hours a week from resorts for enormous salaries? PE and VC run rampant, politicians bought and paid for, lobbying for corporate interests... I don't see why they should be allowed to keep accumulating more power and wealth..
    - halperter 3mo ago
      Clearly not capital punishment? A lack of capital punishment ≠ lack of punishment. Boycotts, protests, new supply chains, political pressure, etc? The bourgeoisie still need the proletariat, thus, the proletariat can influence the bourgeoisie through solidarity. Commentator above said nothing about not punishing the bourgeoisie anyways.
  - Obscurity4340 3mo ago
    Those very States justify it with "We dont make no mistakes"
quantummagic 3mo ago
> it is obviously no less repulsive than the crime, Hard disagree. There are people who deserve death, and it is a good thing when it happens. It's just really dangerous to give the state such a power.
- aejm 3mo ago
  I wonder if you would feel different after witnessing an execution (by guillotine)? I believe Camus is arguing that you would, giving his father as example of someone who similarly changed his mind.
  - TacticalCoder 3mo ago
    [flagged]
    - OnTheDesk 3mo ago
      Sound to me like you're thinking about a violent fantasy toward the offender rather than the victims tbh
    - defrost 3mo ago
      > They used to do that in the middle-age. Not casually and not for "minor crimes" (by the standards of the time) like the killing of a child. The overly performative hung, drawn, and quartering variations were reserved for high crimes of treason, regicide, etc.
    - gsinclair 3mo ago
      “…the person you don’t care about…” Your comment is below the intellectual and interpersonal standard that makes HN a good place to be. I don’t doubt your sincerity and I can abide your opinion, but you should be restrained in ascribing such points of view to others.
      - AlexeyBelov 3mo ago
        > Your comment is below the intellectual and interpersonal standard that makes HN a good place to be. You should install an extension and tag certain accounts. You'll notice it's the same people doing it for years (and also constant 2 months old accounts, but that's a different issue).
deleted 3mo ago
[deleted]
cindyllm 3mo ago
[dead]
mieses 3mo ago
Camus wrote interesting fictions

51 points by halperter 3mo ago

iwantitez 3mo ago

[flagged]

iwantitez 3mo ago
[flagged]

LNSY 3mo ago

[flagged]

winter_blue 3mo ago

There's a summary of this essay on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflections_on_the_Guillotine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflections_on_the_Guillotine This is a 1957 essay by Algerian-French philosopher Albert Camus.

iwantitez 3mo ago

[flagged]

iwantitez 3mo ago
[flagged]

catapart 3mo ago

[flagged]

iwantitez 3mo ago
[flagged]
- randallsquared 3mo ago
  > I saw a question once on Quora asking why the poor don’t rip the wealthy out of their houses and the top reply was “Nazi!” with hundreds of upvotes. This seems odd because it usually goes the other way: people complaining about the rich typically tar them as the "Nazis". For people against destroying the rich, the usual epithet for those who want to do so would be "commies"...
  - iwantitez 3mo ago
    [dead]
senordevnyc 3mo ago
This sounds like something I might have written at 15. Only fools who have never known the horrors of war or indiscriminate violence would wish for the world you’re fantasizing about.
- deleted 3mo ago
  [deleted]
- catapart 3mo ago
  [flagged]
  - senordevnyc 3mo ago
    lol, truly hilarious, you’re a software engineer cosplaying as a bloodthirsty class warrior on HN. But sure, you’ve seen some shit and you’ll make those evil rich people pay for all your horrible suffering. That’s enough keyboard warriors for one day for me, going to bed. Hope you find some peace.
JKCalhoun 3mo ago
"Anyway, yeah, your dad had a weak stomach…" Yeah, no we can still want justice and not want to be horrified by the act of execution for the rest of our lives. Or, I don't know, perhaps we can crush parts of their body one at a time. Or maybe set fire to their limbs one at a time. I mean, why not? (And never mind that if The State could, even once, execute someone who is innocent, it renders capital punishment instantly null and void in my mind.)
- romanhounds 3mo ago
  And what's your solution for this gross asymmetry of wealth? "Engineers" working 4 hours a week from resorts for enormous salaries? PE and VC run rampant, politicians bought and paid for, lobbying for corporate interests... I don't see why they should be allowed to keep accumulating more power and wealth..
  - halperter 3mo ago
    Clearly not capital punishment? A lack of capital punishment ≠ lack of punishment. Boycotts, protests, new supply chains, political pressure, etc? The bourgeoisie still need the proletariat, thus, the proletariat can influence the bourgeoisie through solidarity. Commentator above said nothing about not punishing the bourgeoisie anyways.
- Obscurity4340 3mo ago
  Those very States justify it with "We dont make no mistakes"

quantummagic 3mo ago

> it is obviously no less repulsive than the crime, Hard disagree. There are people who deserve death, and it is a good thing when it happens. It's just really dangerous to give the state such a power.

aejm 3mo ago
I wonder if you would feel different after witnessing an execution (by guillotine)? I believe Camus is arguing that you would, giving his father as example of someone who similarly changed his mind.
- TacticalCoder 3mo ago
  [flagged]
  - OnTheDesk 3mo ago
    Sound to me like you're thinking about a violent fantasy toward the offender rather than the victims tbh
  - defrost 3mo ago
    > They used to do that in the middle-age. Not casually and not for "minor crimes" (by the standards of the time) like the killing of a child. The overly performative hung, drawn, and quartering variations were reserved for high crimes of treason, regicide, etc.
  - gsinclair 3mo ago
    “…the person you don’t care about…” Your comment is below the intellectual and interpersonal standard that makes HN a good place to be. I don’t doubt your sincerity and I can abide your opinion, but you should be restrained in ascribing such points of view to others.
    - AlexeyBelov 3mo ago
      > Your comment is below the intellectual and interpersonal standard that makes HN a good place to be. You should install an extension and tag certain accounts. You'll notice it's the same people doing it for years (and also constant 2 months old accounts, but that's a different issue).

deleted 3mo ago

[deleted]

cindyllm 3mo ago

[dead]

mieses 3mo ago

Camus wrote interesting fictions