tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6832901.post6041917542160534315..comments2024-03-25T19:48:24.624+11:00Comments on Oz Conservative: Ruling by political self-imageUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6832901.post-23246039476889009112007-08-30T02:19:00.000+10:002007-08-30T02:19:00.000+10:00The liberal celebration of personal autonomy turns...The liberal celebration of personal autonomy turns out to be mostly illusory. It is a degraded form of Kant's idea that only conduct carried out pursuant to the free exercise of one's mind can be considered morally worthy. In fact most of our conduct is of necessity a matter of habit, manners, and yes, traditions. We simply can't stop to think about everything we do. Even in the case of major decisions where careful consideration is called for, how many people really have the character and intelligence to independently evaluate moral questions? They usually go immediately for the superficially acceptable answer, which given the complexity of human affairs, may well prove to be a bad answer. In practice, appeals to autonomy are often used to evade conventional moral prohibitions and excuse conduct undertaken for immediate hedonistic reasons which falls short of what we owe to others by reason of being in a community. For the liberal, the question is always: "why shouldn't I do whatever I feel like?" For persons of better moral character, the question is "what is it that I ought to do (given my connections and obligations to others)?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6832901.post-32372334127471129402007-08-29T17:36:00.000+10:002007-08-29T17:36:00.000+10:00Thucydides, I'm really glad you made that point. Y...Thucydides, I'm really glad you made that point. You have to wonder if "individualism" is really a value held by anyone in practice, or only in theory. That would be because in practice it is inseparable from the "alienation" that liberals complain about just as much as everyone else.John Savagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09204911551117542124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6832901.post-75528409591003443572007-08-29T14:18:00.000+10:002007-08-29T14:18:00.000+10:00People who wear their leftist orthodoxies on their...People who wear their leftist orthodoxies on their sleeves are like well-off medieval Christians who used to fund stained glass windows or elaborate pews for their favorite church, with the donors' names prominently inscribed of course. They get off on displaying their moral pieties to the world and one-upping those who do not share the same moral pieties. <BR/><BR/>The key is to realize that most of their stances are not at all moral: these people will often do very evil things, such as covering up the gang rape of a child (and thus enabling more rapes of children) in order to fight "racism." I've had some success in confronting a few of these people with the moral evil of their beliefs, though yes indeed, it is a very hard slag to get through. The trick is to never concede the moral high ground, to never let them set the terms of the argument.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6832901.post-91495994184909074062007-08-29T07:03:00.000+10:002007-08-29T07:03:00.000+10:00Thucydides, an excellent analysis, thanks.Thucydides, an excellent analysis, thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6832901.post-46029830315119583532007-08-29T03:01:00.000+10:002007-08-29T03:01:00.000+10:00In considering the difficulties of liberals in all...In considering the difficulties of liberals in allowing realities to impinge on their sense of identity, notice the social membership aspect. This would seem to flatly contradict their supposed core values of personal autonomy and exaltation of choice. In fact, their personal autonomy turns out to be no more than a formula for abject conformity to prevailing opinion. What is interesting is that once reality starts to break through on some one issue, the whole structure tends to unravel, in spite of efforts at compartmentalization. Perhaps having broken with the group, the individual suddenly becomes aware of just how unrealistic the whole belief system is. My guess is that such a person will quickly look for some new group to join, perhaps suddenly deciding to see the wisdom of the neo-con position, which after all, retains most of the underlying assumptions that were behind his original liberalism, but results in somewhat different policy formulations. The adoption of traditionalism is much less likely to occur, since that involves acceptance of a completely different understanding of human nature and of the human condition - one that accepts human beings as flawed, human institutions however imperfect as civilizing rather than oppressive, and dreams of overhauling society as hubristic and utopian.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com