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The Holocaust: Moral and Political Lessons
Author(s) -
LESSER A. H.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of applied philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.339
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1468-5930
pISSN - 0264-3758
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5930.1995.tb00129.x
Subject(s) - harm , ideology , slippery slope , the holocaust , politics , power (physics) , law , sociology , political science , law and economics , environmental ethics , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics
: In many discussions, whether general or academic, the Holocaust is used as a warning of how initially small corruptions can lead to terrible consequences. In particular, it has been seen as illustrating the ‘slippery slope’from euthanasia to murder, as showing the consequences of an exaggerated respect for law, and as showing the effects of a corrupt ideology. It is argued that these three points are all somewhat inaccurate, and that 1) the ‘slippery slope’occurred much earlier, the so‐called ‘euthanasia’programme being already murder; 2) it was power rather than law that was excessively respected; and 3) it was the corruption of the sense of moral responsibility that did the real harm, rather than the establishment of any coherent ideology.