15 min
Should we morally judge historical figures by today's moral standards? Humans Are Evil - History Podcast
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- History
It is all too tempting to judge those in the past by today's moral norms. Do Abraham Lincoln's racist statements nullify any of his achievements? Should people who did things we nowadays find morally repugnant be condemned when they knew no better? Are any actions intrinsically morally good or bad?
MAIN SOURCES/FURTHER READING
J. D. Velleman – Foundations for moral relativism
M. Fricker - The Relativism of Blame and Williams’s Relativism of Distance
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23772194
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/dont-judge-works-of-the-past-by-todays-moral-standards
It is all too tempting to judge those in the past by today's moral norms. Do Abraham Lincoln's racist statements nullify any of his achievements? Should people who did things we nowadays find morally repugnant be condemned when they knew no better? Are any actions intrinsically morally good or bad?
MAIN SOURCES/FURTHER READING
J. D. Velleman – Foundations for moral relativism
M. Fricker - The Relativism of Blame and Williams’s Relativism of Distance
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23772194
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/dont-judge-works-of-the-past-by-todays-moral-standards
15 min