--- Gautam Mukunda <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I do feel that way. I have no doubt that Gandhi > (for > example) would say that my support of violent > intervention to stop mass killings (in Iraq, but > also, > for example, in Rwanda) is actively immoral. Thomas > Jefferson, to pick another example, would probably > say > the same. I disagree with them, but I believe their > position is perfectly reasonable. In a way, I even > admire it, actually. I don't feel capable of even > aspiring to that kind of absolute moral purity - I > just want to do the best that I can in a fallen > world. > But certainly, some reasonable and even admirable > people would think that some of my beliefs, and the > actions that I advocate because of those beliefs, > are > wrong in an absolute moral sense, not just a > pragmatic one. > > ===== > Gautam Mukunda
Actually, there's another point to make, too. Hans Morgenthau, the father of modern realism, often argued that realism (that is, that states act in their own self-interest, and _only_ in their own self-interest, usually defined as the pursuit of power or security) had a normative component as well - not only _do_ states act that way, they _should_ act that way. He argued that the world is a better place (i.e., more peaceful) when states act in this fashion, and that to act otherwise was immoral, in part because it is imprudent, and prudence is a moral virtue when you are talking about international relations. So there's a moral criticism of (for example) humanitarian intervention to be made from the _opposite_ direction as well - that humanitarian intervention is immoral because of its consequences. I respect that position as well although, again, I don't happen to agree with it. ===== Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Freedom is not free" http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25� http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/print_splash
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