The moralist, standing erect and looking at the heavens, is simply out of touch with the need to make a living. Ethics is all very well, but perhaps we cannot afford it. At least with his eyes on the earth the dim mole earns his living. There is something grubby, not only to Kant but I think to most of us, about the excuse that this argument offers us. We have some sense that we should keep our own hands clean, however much others will then dirty theirs. The excuse is not open to a person of strict honour or integrity, however convenient it may be in practice. In many areas, it is not over and
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