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バートランド・ラッセル 権力 第4章
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第4章 聖職者(僧侶)の権力 n.28これら全ては,組織のために圧政的な権力を得る手段として崇高な徳が利用される時には不可避なものである。 外国に征服された場合は別として,伝統的な権力の崩壊は,常に,マキアヴェリが信じていたように,崇高な徳が人間の心を支配する力が非常に堅固であれば,最大限の犯罪的行為によってさえ揺り動かされることはないと信じている人々によって、崇高な徳が濫用された結果である(結果として起こるものである)。 |
Chapter IV: Priestly Power, n.28But to an organization which has ideal ends, and therefore an excuse for love of power, a reputation for superior virtue is dangerous, and is sure, in the long run, to produce a superiority only in unscrupulous ruthlessness. The Church preached contempt for the things of this world, and in doing so acquired dominion over monarchs. The Friars took a vow of poverty, which so impressed the world that it increased the already enormous wealth of the Church. St. Francis, by preaching brotherly love, generated the enthusiasm required for the victorious prosecution of a long and atrocious war. In the end, the Renaissance Church lost all the moral purpose to which it owed its wealth and power, and the shock of the Reformation was necessary to produce regeneration.All this is inevitable whenever superior virtue is used as a means of winning tyrannical power for an organization. Except when due to foreign conquest, the collapse of traditional power is always the result of its abuse by men who believe, as Machiavelli believed, that its hold on men's minds is too firm to be shaken even by the grossest crimes. |