“ There is no reason to expect an educated man to be morally better than an uneducated man, or a clever man than a stupid man. ”
Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy (1945). copy citation
Author | Bertrand Russell |
---|---|
Source | A History of Western Philosophy |
Topic | reason |
Date | 1945 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | |
Weblink | http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/History%20of%20Western%20Philosoph... |
Context
“The orthodox view is that, wherever two courses of action are possible, conscience tells me which is right, and to choose the other is sin. Virtue consists mainly in the avoidance of sin, rather than in anything positive. There is no reason to expect an educated man to be morally better than an uneducated man, or a clever man than a stupid man. In this way, a number of merits of great social importance are shut out from the realm of ethics. The adjective “unethical,” in modern usage, has a much narrower range than the adjective “undesirable.””
source