It is not easy to see any clear line of progress in human moral history. In social history it is possible to trace a steady improvement in material well-being, in health care, in technology, transport and so on. (...) In moral history any line of progress which is visible must be seen as erratic and impermanent, compared with the kind of progress associated with the conquest of the material world. (...) One particular pattern of ebb and flow may be of special significance, that is alternation un some periods between what Nietzsche called the slave or herd virtues and those of the superman, between admiration for the submissive, kindly and self-controlled ethic and admiration for the conquering hero, ruthless sometimes bloodthirsty, scaling the heights. This oscillation the ideal of self-denial and the ideal of self-aggrandisement is one of the recurring features of moral history, sometimes even within the lives of particular people. Oliver thomson - A History of Sin
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 16:32:54 +0000