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Moral Absolutism Quotes

Browse 10 quotes about Moral Absolutism.

Moral Absolutism Quotes

“Responsibility I believe accrues through privilege. People like you and me have an unbelievable amount of privilege and therefore we have a huge amount of responsibility. We live in free societies where we are not afraid of the police; we have extraordinary wealth available to us by global standards. If you have those things, then you have the kind of responsibility that a person does not have if he or she is slaving seventy hours a week to put food on the table; a responsibility at the very least to inform yourself about power. Beyond that, it is a question of whether you believe in moral certainties or not.”

Wealth Freedom Responsibility Morality Police Privilege Moral Absolutism

Author:Noam Chomsky

“George Bush made a mistake when he referred to the Saddam Hussein regime as 'evil.' Every liberal and leftist knows how to titter at such black-and-white moral absolutism. What the president should have done, in the unlikely event that he wanted the support of America's peace-mongers, was to describe a confrontation with Saddam as the 'lesser evil.' This is a term the Left can appreciate. Indeed, 'lesser evil' is part of the essential tactical rhetoric of today's Left, and has been deployed to excuse or overlook the sins of liberal Democrats, from President Clinton's bombing of Sudan to Madeleine Albright's veto of an international rescue for Rwanda when she was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Among those longing for nuance, moral relativism—the willingness to use the term evil, when combined with a willingness to make accommodations with it—is the smart thing: so much more sophisticated than 'cowboy' language.”

Source: Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left

“Their usual mistaken premise is that they affirm some consensus among people, at least among tame peoples, concerning certain moral principles, and then conclude that these principles must be unconditionally binding also for you and me-or conversely, they see that among different peoples moral valuations are necessarily different and infer from this that no morality is binding-both of which are equally childish.”

People Different Certain Moral Principles Morality Usual Mistaken Consensus Different Peoples Premises Binding Moral Principles Valuation Moral Absolutism

Book:Nietzsche: The Gay Science: With a Prelude in German Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs

Source: Nietzsche: The Gay Science: With a Prelude in German Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs

“Moral relativism has a reputation for being compassionate, caring and humane, but it is an extremely useful philosophy for tyrants.”

Philosophy Moral Caring Reputation Compassionate Tyrants Humane Relativism Absolutism Moral Relativism Moral Absolutism

Author:Peter Kreeft

“Relativity must replace absolutism in the realm of morals as well as in the spheres of physics and biology.”

Wells Moral Physics Realms Biology Spheres Relativity Absolutism Moral Absolutism

Author:Thomas Cochrane

“George Bush made a mistake when he referred to the Saddam Hussein regime as 'evil.' Every liberal and leftist knows how to titter at such black-and-white moral absolutism.”

Knows Made Evil Black White Mistake Moral Know How Regimes Black And White Saddam Hussein Made A Mistake Leftists Absolutism Moral Absolutism

Book:Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left

Source: Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left

“Above all, creators remain drawn to the age-old paradoxes that philosophy grapples with [and]...that art occasionally resolves...the problem of the one and the many; unity and variety; determinism and freedom; mechanism and vitalism; good and evil; time and eternity; the plenum and the void; moral absolutism and relativism... These are the basic problems of human existence, and as far as we possibly can we arrange things to forget them.”

“According to the moral absolutism that characterizes McCandless's beliefs, a challenge in which a successful outcome is assured isn't a challenge at all.”

Success Belief Challenges Moral Successful Outcomes Assured Absolutism Moral Absolutism

Author:Jon Krakauer

“There is nothing quite like the moral absolutism of the young." -Hodge”

Young Moral Absolutism Moral Absolutism

Author:Cassandra Clare

“It is possible that the distinction between moral relativism and moral absolutism has sometimes been blurred because an excessively consistent practice of either leads to the same practical result — ruthlessness in political life.”

Sometimes Political Results Moral Practice Practicals Distinction Consistent Relativism Political Life Ruthlessness Absolutism Moral Relativism Moral Absolutism

Book:The Age of Reform

Source: The Age of Reform