We call murder of which we approve "capital punishment"
or "justifiable homicide" or "patriotic courage." If taking a man's
property without his consent is stealing, then the State steals; but,
approving the act, we call it "eminent domain."
(4) The motto has its chief danger, perhaps, in the tendency it
encourages to ignore remoter consequences for the sake of immediate
gain. This point we will consider under the following topic.
What is the justification of justice and chivalry?
If the greatest total of human happiness is the supreme end of conduct,
was not Caiaphas right in deeming it expedient that one man should
die for the people, even though he were innocent of all sin? Were not
the French army officers sane in preferring to make Dreyfus their
scapegoat rather than bring dishonor and shame upon their army? For
that matter, does not the aggregate of enjoyment of a score of cannibals
outweigh the suffering of the one man whom they have sacrificed to
their appetite, or the delirious excitement with which a brutal crowd
witnesses a lynching overbalance the pain of their solitary victim?
Yet our souls revolt against such things. We cry, ruat caelum, fiat
justitia! Justice is prior to all expediency! Is this irrational, or
can it be shown to be teleologically justifiable?
Justice is undoubtedly justifiable; and the only reason that we ever
hesitate to acknowledge it in any concrete case is that we tend to
overlook indirect and remote results and see only the immediate effect
of action.
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