Would invisibly sneaking into the headquarters of the Heritage Foundation and burning the place to the ground count as a just or an unjust act?That depends on where you come down on the ¡°punching a Nazi¡± question. I¡¯m on the side of ¡°it¡¯s wrong to randomly punch a Nazi, but it probably feels good.¡± So I answer ¡°unjust, but fun.¡±
When faced with a mirror, their behavior shifted toward prosocial actions. Even self-observation nudges us toward morality.this is what makes Dracula so scary
There is nothing more desirable than to get rid of this key**. It should be thrown to the bottom of a well whence it can never again be recovered.** "this key" refers to "the faculty of setting things aside" such as blindness to one's in-group bias, conformity, or the detachment of oneself from the consequences of one's own choices and actions, especially when our own interest or pleasure is at stake, etc.
The ring of Gyges who has become invisible¡ªthis is precisely the act of setting aside: setting oneself aside from the crime one commits; not establishing the connexion between the two.
The act of throwing away the key, of throwing away the ring of Gyges¡ªthis is the effort proper to the will. It is the act by which, in pain and blindness, we make our way out of the cave.###
Gyges: ¡®I have become king, and the other king has been assassinated.¡¯ No connexion whatever between these two things. There we have the ring!
The owner of a factory: ¡®I enjoy this and that expensive luxury and my workmen are miserably poor.¡¯ He may be very sincerely sorry for his workmen and yet not form the connexion.
For no connexion is formed if thought does not bring it about. Two and two remain indefinitely as two and two unless thought adds them together to make them into four.
We hate the people who try to make us form the connexions we do not want to form.
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Over time it's a great conditioning tactic for taking fewer and fewer actions that go against your morals, but it really sucks when the inner monolog won't shut up about all the shifty things you did as a teenager.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 8:03 AM on September 19, 2024 [41 favorites]