Reply #23: Well Said, My Friend [View All]

Your comments on the concept of moral superiority are particularly valuable. That cannot be a given attribute, to be brandished securely as a talisman. To my view, once a matter has descended to war, the very concept is beyond consideration. It is often the case that strategic benefit may be derived from actions that can be seen as moral, but since the motive is pragmatic acquisition of advantage, this cannot be described as moral behavior, since one of the diagnostics of that is that the motivation be to do what is right, whether it brings benefit or not. Treating prisoners decently, for example, on the sound ground that doing so will make surrender more thinkable by a foe at a disadvantage, is a very different thing than acting on the moral imperative to treat others decently.