Quote of the Day

When you read the following quote, I want you to think of politicians- Democrats, Republicans, Independents- who call themselves pragmatists.

In practice, the hallmark of the humanist ethic is pragmatism. The fact that politicians describe themselves as pragmatic in order to induce people to vote for them is a telling indication of the values of our society. The pragmatic politician portrays himself as a realist who looks at the facts to tell him what to do rather than seeking a wise course of action in theory, in principle, or in ideology. All of that is illusory. Facts never told anyone what to do. Facts are always interpreted according to principles and values, and the pragmatist hides his, possibly even from himself. The ethical result of this is worse than the means being justified by the end, because the pragmatist explicitly elevates means over ends; the means justify themselves. And the values remain hidden because to speak of them, except in the most general and meaningless sense, is to lose one's credentials as a pragmatist.

Herbert Schlossberg, Idols for Destruction, 1990

I suppose one either believes that there's objective morality beneath the law or it is constructed by humans without an objective morality. I suppose that objective morality is above the pragmatist's pay grade.