The duty of virtue is essentially distinguished from the duty of justice in this respect; that it is morally possible to be externally compelled to the latter, whereas the former rests on free self-constraint only.
~Immanuel Kant, The Metaphysical Elements of Ethics
~Immanuel Kant, The Metaphysical Elements of Ethics
Kant makes the distinction here between virtue and justice. These are two concepts that are intimately linked.
I see virtue as our own personal morality. Justice, or political philosophy, is the morality agreed upon by the state. This is quite obvious if we look at all of our political disagreements. They are all moral disputes.
What's more important, the sanctity of human life, or a woman's liberty to choose when to reproduce?
What's more important, present economic prosperity or preserving and sustaining the earth's natural resources?
Is the death penalty ok if it deters crime, or is the benefit outweighed by innocent men wrongly executed?
What about the right to bear arms? Thousands of people are murdered everyday by firearms. But this was included in the Bill of Rights because our forefathers experienced first hand what happens if citizens are not allowed to arm themselves: they are helpless against criminals or corrupt governments that use force to oppress them. They felt that the right to bear arms is essential to liberty.
About a year ago, I watched an interesting lecture from psychologist Jonathan Haidt, where he talked about what he called the "Moral Matrix". He said that just like in the movie "The Matrix", we cannot see or understand outside of our own sense of morality. We need to "wake up" if we are ever going to get along and make any progress.
Haidt argued that humans evolved 5 major values which are the foundation of all our decision making and morality. These are:
1. Harm/Care
2. Fairness/Reciprocity
3. In-Group Loyalty
4. Authority/Respect
5. Purity/Sanctity
These are all respectable values. The only problem is that they sometimes conflict with each other. Liberals tend to value #1 and #2 the most, and conservatives value #3, #4, and #5 the most. Moderates have some some combination of the 5.
A conservative, for example, is much more likely to say "hey, too bad, life's not fair". A liberal is more likely to question authority and is more open to experience.
While the liberals cry out about all the death and injustice about our current war, the conservatives say "yeah,
that's shame, but it was absolutely necessary to protect our own country."
Liberals tend to have a more materialistic view of the universe (as in made of matter - a scientific, clockwork view). Thus they support euthanasia and abortion on the grounds that it is the choice of the person. The conservatives are aghast by this. It seems as if these people have no respect for the sanctity and holiness of human life.
But I think that conservatives and liberals are the yin/yang of humanity. We need both, and either of us would be lost without the other.
The most wonderful thing about conservatives is their insight into just how precious order is, and how hard it is to achieve and to maintain. They express their concern about gay marriage by saying that it will undermine the fabric of society. They mean this literally. We already have a system that works, so WHY MESS WITH IT? WE DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!
Liberals, of course, don't understand this. They naively deride the conservatives as unthinking idiots whose mythical deity told them he didn't like homosexuality. But of course they can't understand, because they have no respect for conventional wisdom nor for the status quo. They are humanity's change agent. Without the liberals pushing the human race forward, we would still be living in the stone age. Without the conservatives to put these exuberant progressives in check, the world would sink into chaos and disorder.
So back to Virtue vs. Justice. I think we should judge a man by how well he adheres to his own values. We have laws, or justice, as a broad set of moral rules that we can all pretty much agree on. But just following the law does not make one virtuous. Virtue, as Kant says, rests only on self-constraint.
What Next?
More ideas from Nietzsche
More ideas from Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Read Thus Spoke Zarathustra online for free
Learn more about Thus Spoke Zarathustra at Amazon
More ideas from Nietzsche
More ideas from Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Read Thus Spoke Zarathustra online for free
Learn more about Thus Spoke Zarathustra at Amazon








