Abstract
In discussing cruelty toward human beings, I argue that disregarding the singularity of any human being is necessary for treating her or him cruelly. The cruelty of Peter the Great, relying upon the intolerance of any human singular individuality, serves me as a paradigm-case to illustrate that. The cruelty of Procrustes and that of Stalin rely upon similar grounds. Relating to a person’s singularity is sufficient to prevent cruelty toward that person. In contrast, a liberal state of mind or solidarity is insufficient to prevent cruelty and, under some circumstances, may even cause it.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 6 |
| Pages (from-to) | 337-354 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Philosophia (United States) |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 22 Jun 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
Keywords
- Civilization
- Classical Russian literature
- Cruelty
- Deontology
- Despotism
- Dignity
- Envy
- Equality
- Humiliation
- Immanuel Kant
- Interpresonality
- Intersubjectivity
- John Kekes
- Liberalism
- Love
- Originality
- Person
- Peter the Great
- Plagiarism
- Pscyhical private accessibility
- Richard Rorty
- Self
- Singular individuality
- Slavery
- Solidarity
- Torture
- Values
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Philosophy