Bellamy on Dirty Hands and Lesser Evils: A Response

Wijze, Stephen De; Goodwin, Tom

doi:10.1111/j.1467-856x.2009.00371.x

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In other words, it is difficult to make intersubjective sense of the idea that an act may be wrong, yet somehow right, necessary or morally required at the same time. This essentially empirical claim De Wijze and Goodwin dismiss as ‘simply false’ (De Wijze and Goodwin 2009, 7). Their reasoning is that ‘Citizens do understand that at times and in rare but specific circumstances, politicians need to lie, use violence, make shabby compromises and generally behave in a manner that would be morally reprehensible and probably illegal if done under different situations’ (p. 7).…”

Section: The Political Logic Of Dirty Handsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I am grateful to Stephen De Wijze and Tom Goodwin (2009) for penning a thoughtful piece in response to my article on dirty hands and lesser evils in the war on terror (Bellamy 2007a). The original article was an attempt to think through how various forms of ‘emergency ethics’ operate in practice .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are interested not in the intersubjective but in the subjective. For them, it matters how, for example, a torturer feels after the event (De Wijze and Goodwin 2009, 5). Because the original article was interested in the intersubjective, not the subjective, this question (albeit interesting in itself) is irrelevant for me.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Reply to My Critics

Bellamy

2009

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: The Political Logic Of Dirty Handsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Reply to My Critics

Bellamy

2009

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Machiavelli's message in The Prince has become the mantra of DH theorists (c.f. Gowans, 2001;de Wijze, 2005;de Wijze & Goodwin, 2009;Stocker, 1990). Despite its infamy, it features proudly in most expositions of DH, including Walzer's (1973) seminal article.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 I use the term standard DH thesis as a representative of a number of expositions of DH (i.e. Walzer, 1973;1977;de Wijze, 1994;de Wijze and Goodwin, 2009;Cunningham, 1992;Stocker, 1990;Gowans, 2001). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Learning How Not to Be Good’: Machiavelli and the Standard Dirty Hands Thesis

Tillyris

2014

Ethic Theory Moral Prac

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

'Learning how not to be good': Machiavelli and the Standard Dirty Hands Thesis. Abstract'It is necessary to a Prince to learn how not to be good'. This quotation from Machiavelli's The Prince has become the mantra of the standard dirty hands (DH) thesis. Despite its infamy, it features proudly in most conventional expositions of the dirty hands (DH) problem, including Michael Walzer's original analysis. In this paper, I wish to cast a doubt as to whether the standard conception of the problem of DH-the recognition that, in certain inescapable and tragic circumstances an innocent course of action is unfeasiblefully captures Machiavelli's message and its terrifying implications. In particular, I argue that the standard DH thesis is inadequately 'static': it conceives the conflict between ordinary morality and political morality as a stark, momentary and rare paradox of action-an anomaly disrupting the normality of harmony. As such it misconceives both the extent and the nature of the rupture between morality and politics. In this sense, the argument I shall advance does not just involve an exercise in the history of political thought. Rather, I want to suggest that, by virtue of its failure to take Machiavelli's insights seriously, the standard DH thesis fails to live up to its purported capacity to capture the complexity and fragmentation of our moral cosmos and that, consequently, it is nothing more than a thinly veiled version of the idealism and monism it purports to reject. Keywords Machiavelli; Dirty hands; Moral conflict; Political virtue; Moral vice; Innocence IntroductionCynicism about politics is ubiquitous and not without reason. In his famous essay Political Action: The Problem of Dirty Hands, Michael Walzer (1973: 163) remarks that, it is the "'conventional wisdom'" that "politicians are a good deal worse, morally worse, than the rest of us". This attitude, he maintains, should not be explained with reference to cases of mere sleaze but should be traced to a different, more unsettling, concern: the dirty hands (DH) problem.Reduced to its essentials, the Walzerian vogue of the DH problem holds that, in certain tragic circumstances, politicians may be required from a normative and prudential perspective to do or tolerate things that are immoral. For instance, they might have to torture terrorists in order to divulge life-saving information or deceive for the sake of political success. The DH thesis suggests that, in such instances, there exists a disharmony between ordinary morality -which is, as claimed, deontological -and the demands of successful political action -which are thought to be consequentialist 1 . And whilst the 1 Several DH theorists suggest that Walzer's (1973) original conception of DH is too narrow: they argue that, like Machiavelli, Walzer unsatisfactorily restricts DH to politicians; whilst politics is somehow special, the DH dilemma

show abstract

After the Standard Dirty Hands Thesis: Towards a Dynamic Account of Dirty Hands in Politics

Tillyris

2015

Ethic Theory Moral Prac

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This essay locates the problem of dirty hands (DH) within virtue ethics -specifically Alasdair MacIntyre's neo-Aristotelian account in After Virtue. It demonstrates that, contra contemporary expositions of this problem, MacIntyre's account 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 MacIntyre's account as a theoretical premise for Machiavelli's thought so as to set the foundations for a nascent but richer account 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 Machiavelli's 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' thesis prescribes.Keywords: Dirty Hands; Machiavelli; MacIntyre; political ethics; moral conflict.The problem of dirty hands (DH), Michael Walzer (1973) suggests, captures Machiavelli's recognition: morality and politics conflict. The problem is such that politicians are confronted with a tragic dilemma, a paradox of action -situations in which they must act immorally for political reasons (i.e. they may issue torture to extract life-saving information). The demands of morality -which are, as argued, deontologicalconflict with those of politics -which are, as suggested, consequentialist. Whilst the politician should satisfy the requirements of politics, her choice carries a remainder. This insight challenges the Kantian and Utilitarian value-monist vision of innocence and harmony as unsatisfactorily idealistic and insensitive to our fragmented morality and messiness of politics.Several DH theorists criticize Walzer's account for its 'narrowness': DH, they suggest, might be confronted by non-professional politicians; it might involve a dilemma in ordinary life 1 (Stocker, 1990;Gowans, 2001 2). MacIntyre's account, I illustrate, offers a richer understanding of tragedy and DH -in its traditional conception as a stark conflict involving inescapable wrongdoing. Accepting the possibility of tragedy in ordinary life, however, does not entail that conceptualizing DH in politics as a momentary paradox of action suffices. It is this 'static' conception, I suggest, that most DH theorists borrow from Walzer (despite their disagreements over the scope and precise characterization of DH) and which is unsatisfactorily idealistic in certain on-going activities, most notably politics. My critique is controversial but I state it boldly as I depart from it and seek to develop a...

show abstract

Bellamy on Dirty Hands and Lesser Evils: A Response

Cited by 9 publications

References 17 publications

A Reply to My Critics

A Reply to My Critics

‘Learning How Not to Be Good’: Machiavelli and the Standard Dirty Hands Thesis

After the Standard Dirty Hands Thesis: Towards a Dynamic Account of Dirty Hands in Politics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About