“Pacifists ought to enter more deeply into the aesthetical and ethical point of view of their opponents.”

— William James

1900s, The Moral Equivalent of War (1906)
Context: Pacifists ought to enter more deeply into the aesthetical and ethical point of view of their opponents. … So long as antimilitarists propose no substitute for war's disciplinary function, no moral equivalent of war, analogous, as one might say, to the mechanical equivalent of heat, so long they fail to realize the full inwardness of the situation. And as a rule they do fail. The duties, penalties, and sanctions pictured in the utopias they paint are all too weak and tame to touch the military-minded.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Pacifists ought to enter more deeply into the aesthetical and ethical point of view of their opponents." by William James?

William James246

American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist 1842–1910

Related quotes

“Ethics and aesthetics are one.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein book Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

Source: Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

“From an ethical point of view the price difference is grotesque and from a political point of view, it represents a lack of respect, as though a sick Brazilian is inferior.”

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (1945) Brazilian politician, 35th president of Brazil

"Brazil to break Aids drug patent" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6626073.stm, BBC News, 4 May 2007

“And from the point of view of art there are no concrete or abstract forms, but only forms which are more or less convincing lies. That those lies are necessary to our mental selves is beyond any doubt, as it is through them that we form our aesthetic point of view of life.”

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer

Paris 1923
As quoted by Marius de Zayas, in 'The Arts', New York, May 1923
Quotes, 1920's, "Picasso Speaks," 1923

“The law of aesthetics is the same as the law for our desire… Need says: "You must eat." Aesthetics says: "You can do it in a thousand different ways." Ethics: "You need a woman." Aesthetics: "Which woman do you want?" Thus the purpose of art is first and foremost ethical than aesthetic — even when the wish becomes need. The goal changes from the general to the individual from need to wish, from ethics to aesthetics.”

Asger Jorn (1914–1973) Danish artist

1949 - 1958, Speech to the Penguins' (1949)

“I even believe aesthetics are like ethics. Something that is beautiful is ethical, and unethical things aren’t beautiful.”

Gianni Agnelli (1921–2003) Italian businessman

Agnelli: The Rules of the Game, Vanity Fair (1991)

“We ought not to consider the opinions of those sects as naïve as they appear from the rationalist point of view.”

Hermann Hesse book Demian

Source: Demian (1919), p. 167
Context: We ought not to consider the opinions of those sects as naïve as they appear from the rationalist point of view. Science as we know it today was unknown to antiquity. Instead there existed a preoccupation with philosophical and mystical truths which was highly developed. What grew out of this preoccupation was to some extent merely pedestrian magic and frivolity; perhaps it frequently led to deceptions and crimes, but this magic, too, had noble antecedents in a profound philosophy. As, for instance, the teachings concerning Abraxas which I cited a moment ago. This name occurs in connection with Greek magical formulas and is frequently considered to be the name of some magician's helper such as certain uncivilized tribes believe in even at present. But it appears that Abraxas has much deeper significance. We may conceive of the name as that of the godhead whose symbolic task is the uniting of godly and devilish elements.

“In contrast to Breton we believe that — behind the false ethical and aesthetic, indeed metaphysical understandings which are out of contact with the vital interest of "man" — we find the real, the materialistic ethics and aesthetics. One includes our needs, the other is an expression of our sensual desires. It is exactly in order to liberate the true ethics and the true aesthetics that we make use of "automatism."”

Asger Jorn (1914–1973) Danish artist

1949 - 1958, Speech to the Penguins' (1949)

“With respect to the question of relationships, my general view is that freedom means freedom for everyone. People…ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.”

Dick Cheney (1941) American politician and businessman

Remarks on same same-sex marriage Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29862-2004Aug24.html (25 August 2004) <br class="br">2000s, 2004

“Cooling by evaporation of water or by fans and warming by heaters and fireplaces are artificial aids… From a practical, economic, or aesthetic point of view it makes much more sense to develop, where possible, constructional features for warming or cooling the owner-built home.”

Ken Kern American writer

The Owner Built Home: A How-to-do-it Book (1972)

“Doctor, you keep asking me to see your point of view, which is based on ethics. You never see mine, which isn’t.”

Larry Niven book The Mote in God's Eye

Source: The Mote in God's Eye (1974), Chapter 53 “The Djinn” (p. 516; spoken by a politician to a scientist)

“Pacifists ought to enter more deeply into the aesthetical and ethical point of view of their opponents.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

William James246

Related quotes

Related topics