Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Slippery slope shown.

1 comment:

  1. Yes . . . so-called "Progressives" are wont to heap scorn on slippery-slope arguments (or, at least, the ones put forward by conservatives), implying that they must be fallacious. But whether or not a slippery slope argument is sound actually depends on the soundness of each step. As applied to social phenomena--like the progressive de-moralization of society--the slippery-slope argument depends on both inductive and deductive components; and, thus far, the empirical evidence overwhelmingly supports the soundness of this particular slippery slope.

    Not only has the recent cultural history of the West--what was once called Christendom--borne out that the slope of sexual morality is indeed slippery, but the history of many other civilizations has done so as well. To take the most familiar historical example to Westerners, Roman society did not start out as a maelstrom of orgies; the early Republic was known for the solid morality and civic devotion of its citizens. Yet, with the wealth and ease that derived from the growth of the empire, Roman republican virtues were steadily eroded, leading, first, to the collapse of the Republic, then eventually to the collapse of the Imperium that succeeded it. The stolid, family-centered early Romans would hardly have recognized their dissolute, feckless descendants of the late Imperium. Would the stolid Founding Fathers of our own republic have an easier time recognizing us as their descendants?

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