Saturday, October 27, 2018

Ockham: Saint of Lefty "Justice"

In an essay describing the ugly problems facing the Catholic Church, the author gives us a gem:

...There is one factor however that has not been widely discussed or understood, but that has had an effect that is second to none in giving rise to the scandalous situation that now engrosses our attention. This is the influence within the Church of a conception of authority as a form of tyranny, rather than as being based on and constituted by law. This essay will present the nature of this conception, describe how it came to be influential, and explore some of its more significant results.


The intellectual origins of this conception of authority and obedience are largely to be found in nominalist theology and philosophy. William of Ockham notoriously came down on one side of the Euthyphro dilemma by asserting that good actions are good simply because they are commanded by God, and that God could make idolatry, murder, and sodomy good, and abstention from these actions evil, if he commanded that they be performed. This conception of divine authority lends support to a tyrannical understanding of authority in general as based on the arbitrary will of the possessor of power, rather than on law. ...

Gee.  Where have we heard "TYRANT!!!!" before?  

It is certainly the case in the current Border Wars that any enforcement of US law is considered "TYRANNICAL!!!"  "FASCIST!!!!" (etc.)  And it is also the case that those who are thinking about keeping "trans" men out of girls' bathrooms, or objecting to queer "marriage," or abortion on demand, are TYRANNICAL!! and FASCIST!!!

But that's simply not the case.

...A law-based understanding of authority, in contrast, holds that law derived from the nature of the good provides the source of the authority of a ruler,...
The nature of The Good.  
What a concept!

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