The Ambitious Virtue Paradox by O.G. Rose
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- Опубліковано 16 гру 2024
- Before closing our Introduction and moving into the main body of II.2, there is a significant and problematic paradox that emerges in the relation between virtue and power (especially regarding political, institutional, etc. leadership) that expanding on could help us further understand the stakes of why we must “spread Childhood.” We have already discussed in II.1 the need for this “new address” so that we can generate Rhetoric (McCloskey, Rauch), incubate mentidivergence to avoid Nash Equilibria (Weil, Lorenzo), “create demand” (Keynes), regain enablement (Illich), prove capable of handling forgiveness (Callard), and so on, but another consideration could further suggest the stakes of the topic. The problem involves what I will call “The Ambitious Virtue Paradox,” as elaborated on in “The Net (103),” thanks to an initial framing by Alex Ebert, father of “Fre(Q) Theory,” which also connects with Thomas Jockin’s work on the relationship between virtue and beauty.
If I want to become President of the United States, should I become President of the United States? No absolute or universal judgment is possible, but there’s an argument to be had that a person who wants power, leadership, influence, etc. is exactly the person we don’t want to lead us, precisely because there is something potentially problematic about ambition. Many of the great leaders and heroes of history are often thought of as “reluctant leaders,” compelled by duty or some Higher Power (suggesting another Game Theory Problem that religion might have helped address, as discussed in Thoughts, perhaps also like “The Population Problem”). People who want power are often depicted as immoral and “in it for the wrong reasons,” as similarly it often seems the best novels and ideas are generated not by people who want to be writers, philosophers, etc., but those who felt compelled by something “beyond them,” whether a Vision, God, or Something More. In this way, we might say that generally ambition and vice correlate, while attraction and virtue correlate (though people can use words in different ways), but this could mean we have a problem: “If the virtuous don’t seek power, how can those in power be virtuous?”
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Why do you assume children are Virtuous?
Ah, I can see where that would be confusing: I'm referring to Children in the Nietzschean sense, following from Belonging Again II.1. Sorry about that, and thanks for listening!