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Show Chapter IX. "Ought" 376 man, she derives enjoyment and personal profit rather than pain or internal conflict from her corruption. Now Aristotle's vicious man - the prototype of moral corruption - may seem to possess a certain perverse integrity, in that by embracing both amoral principles of conduct and amoral appetites, he experiences no internal conflict between conscience and inclination. It may seem, that is, that such an amoral individual could nevertheless satisfy the criteria of horizontal and vertical consistency through time, and so qualify as rational - indeed, even as ideally rational - in the sense defined in this project. However, this is not the case. Horizontal and vertical inconsistencies abound for the amoral individual. For in order to carry out her amoral projects, the morally corrupt individual must for the most part keep her corruption to herself. She must not make the mistake Hobbes' Foole makes, by announcing her violations of social covenant to the world. Rather, she in effect must become a cleverly devious psychopath, presenting to others a smooth façade of rectitude, while covertly pursuing her amoral ends. Her morally corrupt agenda requires a policy of thoroughgoing deceit of others. But thoroughgoing deceit is not only difficult and expensive, but also inherently confusing. In order to implement this policy successfully, the morally corrupt individual must keep track of all of the fictions she promulgates, all her utterances, their implications and practical consequences, and the evidence that supports them; and she must obliterate or discredit the evidence that undermines them. Plus she must be vigilant in her efforts to ensure the internal consistency of all of the above. Finally, she must coherently embed this internally consistent fabric of complex and detailed deceptions, and their supporting evidence, in the instrumental role of promoting the covert, amoral projects with which it is prima facie in conflict. This is a lot of work. Even Hal the evil computer broke down under the weight of such a task. In reality, not even the cleverest psychopaths manage to escape detection forever. Thus moral corruption in fact creates an enduring, inner disintegrity between the amoral principles and desires that guide action, and the immediate intentions, implications and consequences of those actions themselves. 8. Justifying the Whistle-Blower Now, finally, to put this analysis of "ought" to work on behalf of the whistle-blower. In Section 6.2 above I suggested that radically incorrigible agents who in their actions assault the very conception of morality that a theory such as K expresses challenge our ability to retain our personal investment in such a theory in the face of such repeated assaults. Agents who are merely morally corrupt, when their corruption comes to light, do the same. At the same time that the public exposure of a seemingly unending succession of morally corrupt individuals reassures us that justice is being © Adrian Piper Research Archive Foundation Berlin |
