 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
I shudder when I think of the wars, the tortures, the oppressions, of which upright men have been guilty, under the impression that they were righteously castigating 'moral evil'.
Source: Bertrand Russell: On Education, especially in early childhood, 1926, chap. 1: Postulates of Modern Educational Theory
More info.: https://russell-j.com/beginner/HA14-010.HTM
* a brief commnet:
Ordinary civilians do not like cruelty, but they can be ‘barbaric’ when it comes to punishing the ‘moral evil’ of a hypothetical enemy state or people they dislike. Thus, in many countries, going into battle to defend one's country has been regarded as the ‘highest morality’ (virtue). If both sides believe they have ‘God's blessing’, the battle becomes even tougher. In Japan, national education before and during the war praised the ‘kokutai’ (emperor system) and eventually led to the creation of suicide pilots (Tokkotai).