2024-03-10

I wouldn’t call someone evil simply because he made a mistake in solving an algebra problem and derived the wrong solution for x.

Could the same be said about political opinions? Or more extremely of actions.

Take the Rosenbergs, for example, the spies who leaked secrets about nuclear weapons to the Soviet Union. They didn’t benefit substantially personally from their espionage. Rather, their motivation was ideological: Somewhere, the Rosenbergs calculated that the greatest good would result from leaking secrets. This calculus presumably also included the possibility that they could get tried for treason.

At this level, is this moral calculus any different from the algebra problem. Yes, it’s a more nuanced problem, but is it fundamentally different from a moral standpoint? The Rosenbergs both perished in the electric chair.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that The Rosenbergs’ actions harmed others, even if indirectly. Kaufman, the judge handling their case thought so. He wrote “[Y]our conduct … has already caused … the Communist aggression in Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding 50,000. … Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country.”

Take another case: The Quebec Bridge Collapse of 1907, which resulted in the deaths of 75 workers. The collapse was caused by a misunderstanding of the bridge’s load-bearing capacity. The consulting engineer for this project, Theodore Cooper, was “roundly criticized in post-accident reports for his poor judgement and lack of teamwork in the run-up to the disaster”. However, aside from criticism and an irrecoverable blow to his career, Cooper never faced jailtime, much less execution.

So, is there a difference between the mis-calculus of Cooper and that of the Rosenbergs?

What about the “calculus” of people like Pol Pot, whose “derivation” ultimately resulted in the deliberate murders of over 1.5 million people? Pol Pot’s ideology, essentially a line of (flawed) reasoning, led him to believe that this genocide would be “the best choice”. Similarly with Stalin’s reforms that led to the Holodomor.