Good point. Burke will tower even higher as history wears on. The phenomenon Pryce-Jones refers to is very ancient, though it seems to have reached some kind of apotheosis in the twentieth century: the slaughter of innocents. And not as the consequence of the rage that accompanies battle, but as engineered from behind desks by men in coats and ties with spectacles on their noses. Himmler wore a uniform, but he fits the type perfectly. I think the groundwork for the modern penchant for extermination may have been laid during the religious wars of the 17th century, when the Christian moral restraints upon how war might be waged were violated on an unprecedented scale. But it was with the French Revolution that we see intellectuals unashamedly delineating the rationale for such behavior. It's something of a mystery, but I suspect it's always been with us in one form or another.
William Luse | Homepage | 02.10.03 - 3:37 am | #

It is with us today with the slaughter of the unborn; witness the insatiable appetite for euphemism that surrounders the whole grisly enterprise: We can perhaps take some solace in that underhanded tribute paid to conscience.
Paul Cella | Homepage | 02.13.03 - 3:47 am | #