Aggression, The Mechanics of Virtue, Matt Berry, aphorism 177

177

Above the surface, aggression is Evil.  Beneath the surface, Good is the easy flow of aggression ... and this good conscience depends upon the successful denial of aggression's role within moral interpretation.  To expose the causality of another person’s Good and Evil removes his justification for releasing aggression.  And when one puts a hand on the valve and threatens to shut off another's conduit of aggression, one becomes an accomplice with the outside threat.  Both that which triggers the release of aggressive pressure and that which threatens to shut off this release are designated “Evil.”

Thus,

  • To forbid a causal explanation for an injury is a precondition to justifying retribution, constituting goodness by precluding the evil of moral examination.  

  • It is our not seeing the actual causes to the effect – “Evil” –  that contributes to our Good and their Evil.


A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism



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