After the Standard Dirty Hands Thesis: Towards a Dynamic Account of Dirty Hands in Politics
This essay locates the problem of dirty hands (DH) within virtue ethics - specifically Alasdair MacIntyres neo-Aristotelian thesis in After Virtue. It demonstrates that, contra contemporary expositions of this problem, MacIntyres thesis provides us with a more nuanced account of tragedy and DH in...
| Published in: | Ethical theory and moral practice |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer Science + Business Media B. V
[2016]
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| In: |
Ethical theory and moral practice
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| IxTheo Classification: | NCD Political ethics TJ Modern history TK Recent history VA Philosophy |
| Further subjects: | B
Dirty Hands
B Machiavelli B Political ethics B MacIntyre B Moral Conflict |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This essay locates the problem of dirty hands (DH) within virtue ethics - specifically Alasdair MacIntyres neo-Aristotelian thesis in After Virtue. It demonstrates that, contra contemporary expositions of this problem, MacIntyres thesis provides us with a more nuanced account of tragedy and DH in ordinary life, in its conventional understanding as a stark, rare and momentary conflict in which moral wrongdoing is inescapable. The essay then utilizes elements from MacIntyres thesis as a theoretical premise for Machiavellis thought so as to set the foundations for a nascent but richer framework of DH in politics and move beyond the standard, static conceptualization of the problem within this context. In developing a dynamic account of DH, I conceive of politics as a distinct practice and way of life, with its own demands and standards of excellence, and draw on Machiavellis thought to sketch some of these. The dynamic account uncovers an inexhaustible tension between two ways of life, each with its own demands and standards of excellence: a virtuous politician should become partially vicious and no longer innocent. Understood in dynamic terms, DH in politics involves a paradox of character, not just a paradox of action as the standard, static DH thesis suggests. |
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| ISSN: | 1572-8447 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Ethical theory and moral practice
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s10677-015-9604-6 |