Empire as Virtue

  

Empire as Virtue

Peter Schultz

 

                  The following passage is from a book entitled The Rule of Empires, by Timothy H. Parsons.

 

                  “This reading of history ignores the essential characteristic of empire: the permanent rule and exploitation of a defeated people by a conquering power. By their very nature, empires can never be – and never were – humane, liberal, or tolerant. Would-be Caesars throughout history sought glory, land, and, most importantly, plunder. The true nature of empire was more obvious in pre-modern times when it was unnecessary to disguise such base motives. In recent centuries, however, imperial conquerors have tried to hide their naked self-interest by promising to rule for the good of their subjects. This was and always will be a cynical and hypocritical canard. Empire has never been more than naked self-interest masquerading as virtue.” [4]

 

                  A question: What if, in fact, empire is or reflects virtue? That is, so far from being “naked self-interest masquerading as virtue,” empire is virtue itself. Which is what makes it so appealing. Human beings, universally, want to be virtuous, perhaps more than anything else. And in their quest to be virtuous, they seek to dominate, to rule, and to seek glory by ameliorating the human condition politically.

 

                  Insofar as this is the case, the issue is or should be virtue, not empire. If, as Parsons so aptly argues and illustrates, empires have been, are, and will be intolerable to their subjects because violently oppressive, then virtue should be investigated. A politics of virtue, e.g., politics as soul craft as so many espouse might have consequences that will not be, that cannot be “humane, liberal, or tolerant.” Perhaps the crafting of souls, making our souls the best possible as Socrates recommended, should not and cannot be done politically. Good persons and good citizens are, for all practical purposes, distant, even conflicting phenomena, always.