Abstract
In this chapter, Solov’ëv continues his attack on both “moral subjectivism,” which rejects the objectivity of moral values, and social realism, according to which given social institutions and interests are of supreme moral value. The human being cannot be only a means or an instrument for the benefit of another person nor for the benefit of a single social or economic class nor, finally, for the so-called common good, i.e., for the benefit of the majority. A person’s rights as such are based on our inherent and inalienable human value, on the formal, infinite reason in each human being. Every human society and, in particular, a Christian society can consolidate its existence and elevate its dignity only by aligning itself with the moral norm. It is only a matter of a sincere and consistent effort to improve intrinsically all institutions and social relations that can become good. This is done by increasingly subordinating all of them to the one, unconditional moral ideal of a free union of all in the perfect moral good.
C] In B, this appears as Chap. 10 and is entitled “The Moral Foundation of Sociality,” spanning pp. 337–358.
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Notes
- 1.
C] eliminates two now-fashionable … significance in life.] organized morality, eliminating the falsehood of moral subjectivism, also eliminates at the same time the contrary point of view, according to which various social institutions and interests have an unconditional significance in themselves. B.
- 2.
C] at best] Absent in B.
- 3.
C] real] Absent in B.
- 4.
C] The true definition … foundations and norms.] Absent in A.
- 5.
C] and norms] Absent in B.
- 6.
C] that not just a definite form of society, but not even sociality as such, is] that sociality by itself is not A] that sociality is not B.
- 7.
C] as] only as A.
- 8.
E] A reference to Aristotle. Cf. Aristotle 1941: 1088 (1169b 18–19): “since man is a political creature and one whose nature is to live with others.”
- 9.
F] Lebbok, D. 1884. Murav’i, pchely i osy. Nabljudenija nad nravami obshchezhitel’nykh pereponchatokrylykh, trans. from the 5th edition by D. V. Averkiev. St. Petersburg, p. 92. E] Lebbok 1884: 92. For the English-language original, see Lubbock 1882: 93–94.
- 10.
F] Lebbok 1884: 92. E] Lubbock 1882: 93.
- 11.
F] Worker ants (just like worker bees), as is well known, do not represent a separate species but descend from a common queen and remain (sexually) under-developed.
- 12.
F] Lebbok 1884: 73. E] Lubbock 1882: 73–74.
- 13.
E] Lubbock 1882: 67.
- 14.
F] Lebbok 1884: 74. E] Lubbock 1882: 75.
- 15.
F] Lebbok 1884: 76. E] Lubbock 1882: 78.
- 16.
F] Lebbok 1884: 73. E] Lubbock 1882: 74.
- 17.
F] Lebbok 1884: 89–90. E] Lubbock 1882: 91–92.
- 18.
F] Lebbock 1884: 117 ff. E] Lubbock 1882: 119.
- 19.
E] In the Russian text (all editions), the word here is clearly “vodka.” Yet, Lubbock just as clearly performed his experiments not with vodka (!) but by immersing ants for a period of time in water until they were unconscious. See Lubbock 1882: 99–101. It should be noted, though, that the Russian word for water is “voda.”
- 20.
E] Chicherin 1897: 647.
- 21.
E] liberum veto] A parliamentary device in the 17th-18th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that gave any deputy to the Sejm the right to force an immediate cessation of the current session and void all legislation already approved. Although used commonly in the first half of the 18th century, it was abolished by the constitution of 1791. See Davies 2005: 265–266.
- 22.
C] Of course, it does not … one of its members.] Absent in AB.
- 23.
C] intentionally and consciously … justify the means.] even one savage or barbarian for their great inventions, their endeavor could not be condemned as immoral and contrary to human dignity. A.
- 24.
F] See above, Chapter 10, “The Individual and Society.”
- 25.
F] This thesis is logically justified in the elementary part of moral philosophy, that part which received, thanks to Kant, the same character of rigorous scientificity in its sphere as pure mechanics has in another field. (See the Appendix at the end of this book.) C] This thesis is … which received] This thesis is formally demonstrated in the fundamental part of moral philosophy. This part received A E] Since the appendix mentioned in this footnote is largely a collection of passages from Kant’s writings and is a reflection of Solov’ëv’s views from some 20 years earlier, it is omitted from this volume. See also the footnote at the end of the “Preface to the First Edition.”
- 26.
C] free consent of all is the sole moral norm.] free unity of all is the sole moral foundation of society. A] free agreement of all is the sole moral foundation of society. B.
- 27.
C] norms,] foundations, AB.
- 28.
C] religion (in its given … in the strict sense.] general religion, family and property cannot in themselves serve as moral foundations in the proper sense. A] religion (in its given, historical concrete sense), family and property in themselves do not serve as moral foundations in the proper sense. B.
- 29.
C] a religion as the normal moral] religion in general as the moral A] religion as the moral B.
- 30.
C] moral character,] moral foundation, AB.
- 31.
C] and not religion as such] Absent in A.
- 32.
C] If we see … an historical accident.] Absent in AB.
- 33.
C] given] Absent in AB.
- 34.
C], and even worse,] Absent in AB.
- 35.
C] normal] Absent in AB.
- 36.
C] recognize it as] recognize it by itself as A.
- 37.
C], consequently, as something sacrosanct and inviolable,] Absent in AB.
- 38.
C] and approved by the conscience of all] Absent in A.
- 39.
E] for itself] An Hegelian expression meaning here “explicit” or “external.”
- 40.
C] norm] foundation AB.
- 41.
C] The thesis … a thesis that depends] The theses … the theses that depend A.
- 42.
C] the moral character associated with human sociality.] moral foundations and a moral character. AB.
- 43.
C] that has a well-ordered.. free individual] Absent in AB.
- 44.
C] norm] foundation AB.
- 45.
C] the full scope of rights] an unconditional right AB.
- 46.
C] and such dignity is accorded] but such dignity is unjustly accorded AB.
- 47.
C] their moral] their unconditional moral AB.
- 48.
C] sovereign finds] sovereign in antiquity found A.
- 49.
C] social union] group AB.
- 50.
F] In Eastern despotisms there can be no talk of an equality of rights, only of a negative equality of all in the general absence of rights. However, the equal distribution of injustice does not make it just. The concept of equality in itself (taken abstractly) is only mathematical, and not ethical. C] (taken abstractly)] Absent in AB.
- 51.
E] Latin: “the Senate and the people of Rome” —a reference to the government of the Roman Republic. The initialism (from the Latin) SPQR appeared on the standards of the Roman legions.
- 52.
C] of this life is] of life in antiquity is AB.
- 53.
F] Although very ancient, hospitality to peaceful strangers, as a phenomenon, is hardly original with us. In Greece, its founder was thought to be Zeus—the representative of the third generation of gods (after Kronos and Uranus). Before being a guest in the sense of a disinterested but friendly visitor, a stranger was a guest in the sense of a merchant. Even earlier, the word was understood simply in the sense of the Latin word “hostis” (enemy). Moreover, even further back in antiquity accounts of which have been preserved in the classical tradition, a good guest was met with even more joy than in later hospitable times but only with a savory roast at a family feast. Besides such extremes, the dominant attitude towards strangers in primitive society was, undoubtedly, similar to what Sir John Lubbock continually noticed in an ant colony. When a newcomer came along, even though of the same species but from a different community, having been pulled about by the antennae long enough until it was exhausted and half-dead, it was either finished off or driven away.
- 54.
C] regular] normal AB.
- 55.
C] It, therefore, willy-nilly extended the intellectual and practical outlook] Absent in AB.
- 56.
C] smoothed over] eliminated AB.
- 57.
E] “homo sum”] A reference to a line in the play Heauton Timoroumenos by Publius Terentius Afer (184 B.C.—159 B. C.), better known in English as Terence. In his Metaphysics of Morals, Kant also quotes this line. See Kant 1996a: 577.
- 58.
E] A reference, of course, to the words of Pontius Pilate when he presented the tortured Jesus to the crowd. The Latin is from the Vulgate translation of John 19: 5—“et dicit eis ecce homo.” The English translation, of course, is from the King James Version.
- 59.
C] If we] If only we A.
- 60.
C] A gradual process … final catastrophe.] Not a sudden catastrophe, but only a gradual process can resolve this task. AB.
- 61.
F] In the parables of the leaven, of wheat and weeds, of the mustard seed, etc.
- 62.
C] preparatory] regenerative AB.
- 63.
C] Yet, it is indubitable … it is important] We have no definitive and reliable standard by which to recognize it as slow or fast. Since it is not some foreign concern but our own, it is much more useful AB.
- 64.
C] indigent] Absent in A.
- 65.
C] international wars, … all internally undermined.] international wars, class advantages and oppression, and the cruel punishment of criminals were all rendered impossible internally. A] international wars, the deprivation of the rights of social classes and the execution of criminals were all rendered impossible internally. B.
- 66.
C] change] impossibility AB.
- 67.
C] the Christian] Absent in A.
- 68.
C] this change of attitude towards the old pagan foundations of society] this impossibility AB.
- 69.
C] a rational conviction] an abstract consciousness A.
- 70.
C] were a natural outlook in antiquity. At that time, the Straits of Gibraltar were the extreme boundary of the universe,] in antiquity were inevitable. Then, the Straits of Gibraltar were Herculean pillars, AB.
- 71.
E] people with the heads of dogs] Cynocephaly does appear to be as old as antiquity. Herodotus writes of “dog-headed” men in northern Africa. See Herodotus 1996: 276 (book 4, 191).
- 72.
C] The fear of war … aggressive intentions.] Judging by the unprecedented universal glorification that the peaceful, external politics of our late Sovereign deserved, we should think that those who seek to provoke a European war would be buried under an avalanche of world condemnation. AB.
- 73.
C] as we know, the normal moral] as we saw, the moral A] as we know, the moral B.
- 74.
C] to make them … one true principle.] to give them the true moral foundation, so that they be entirely imbued with the one true moral principle. AB.
- 75.
C] lost the purity and richness of their moral] lost their moral AB.
- 76.
C] significance] foundation AB.
- 77.
C] but even more … from internal limitations.] but also, and even more, in the absence of internal obstacles. A] but even more in the absence of internal limitations. B.
- 78.
C] that fears] that would fear A.
- 79.
C] to a monopoly on the moral norm for society] to be the moral foundation of society A.
- 80.
C] serve] become AB.
- 81.
C] really physically impossible for a single individual] actually physically impossible for a real, individual AB.
- 82.
C] billions] millions A.
- 83.
C] in concreto] Absent in AB.
- 84.
C] in palpable] Absent in AB.
- 85.
C] , not just intentionally thought and wished to be so but in fact] Absent in AB.
- 86.
C] palpably] Absent in AB.
- 87.
C] in general has] in general and in itself has A.
- 88.
C] and the moral norm of society] Absent in AB.
- 89.
C] to be morally normal] to have a moral foundation AB.
- 90.
C] Every human society … stagnation of Christianity.] If our religion believes in the maxims of its Founder and becomes in reality, and not just nominally, the religion of all humanity, if the family clearly takes itself to be the model and embryo of universal brotherhood, if the economic system takes as its chief task to provide a dignified human existence for everyone and each one, then our social crisis will certainly lose its fatal significance. And when the one, true moral principle is understood as applying to all problems of social life, then there will be no need to protect the pseudo moral foundations of society with futile efforts. A.
- 91.
C] by aligning itself … stagnation of Christianity.] by actually placing itself on a moral foundation. This is achieved not through externally defending these or those institutions, which can be good or evil, but only through sincere and consistent efforts to make all institutions and social relations internally good, subordinating them to the one, unconditional moral principle and filling them with the spirit of Christ. B.
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Nemeth, T. (2015). [292]Chapter 13 The Moral Norm of Sociality. In: Nemeth, T. (eds) Vladimir Solov’ëv's Justification of the Moral Good. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12775-0_14
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