The Ethical Problem

 

The Ethical Problem

Peter Schultz

 

The argument is conventionally made that the problem is “the inadequacy of our American system of ethics….” So, conventionally understood, the problem is ethical, viz., this particular ethical system or that particular ethical system, capitalism or communism. However, while this is close to correct, the problem isn’t this or that ethical system. Rather, it is, fundamentally, the ethical itself. 

 

As has been noticed, “the modern high-power dealer of woe … wears immaculate linen, carries a silk hat…,” has a “gentlemanly presence.” “The chiefest sinners are now enrolled men who are pure and kindhearted, loving [of] their families, faithful…, and generous.” In other words, the chiefest sinners are ethical, that is, pure, kindhearted, loving, faithful, and generous. The problematic phenomenon is the ethical itself. 

 

Contemplating the consequences of the ethical, of virtuous political orders, is deeply disturbing. Allen Dulles, et. al., never contemplated the consequences of the ethical, the political. Dulles. et. al., were not contemplative beings; they were active beings, beings who took for granted that great and decisive actions were the key to ameliorating or redeeming the human condition. They saw themselves as creators, not as caretakers. In that sense, they were and are ethical beings, beings who seize hold of the ethical, as they understand it, for the sake of dominance, victory, and glory. For them, the love of fame lies at the heart of the noblest minds. 

 

So, their problem isn’t being unethical; they are emphatically ethical beings, killing and dying for what’s right, even willingly embracing inhuman cruelty for the sake of what’s noble. Their problem, and ours, is that they aren’t contemplative. “The chiefest sinners” aren't unethical; rather, they aren’t contemplative. Were they to be contemplative, they would see the ironic character of the ethical, of the political. They would see the irony in the fact that “war is the health of the state.” They would see the irony in the fact that slavery is an indispensable feature of even healthy political orders. They would see the irony in the fact that the best political leaders are little more than stentorian baboons who are indispensable to national security, but for little else. 

 

What is the alternative to the ethical? How about the erotic? Victor Frankenstein craved the fame and greatness of being the creator of life scientifically. He lusted after such god-like fame. And yet he had the power to create life, as do most human beings, naturally or erotically. Of course, such a creation would not, could not have satisfied his craving for the kind of god-like immortality he sought. Ironically, he could not love or care for his creation, despite its promise. Just like the irony of nuclear power. 

 

Those who embrace the ethical, the political do so at the expense, the loss of the erotic. And that loss “desouls” humans. It is through eros that our souls are revealed and redeemed, that we “make our souls the best possible.”