the divine right of kings
snippet from 'duty' by narsus to stimulate my decomposing mind:
-
“Of course good and evil are arbitrary notions.” Sherlock adds with a wink once Anderson is out of earshot.
John laughs in spite of himself. “Did you just make that up then? That bit about good, bad and indifferent people?”
“Of course not. It’s one of Mycroft’s pet causes.”
John opens his mouth to say something, express disbelief, surprise, acknowledgement, but he doesn’t know which it will be so instead refrains from saying anything.
“Good and evil are arbitrary.” Sherlock continues. “Maintaining the established state structure tends to be a general indication of goodness, as does abiding by the established legal framework. Maintaining territorial authority, even if that means supporting the legitimate use of violence against your own citizens tends to be good. Committing normative acts on a daily basis to reassure fellow citizens is... can be any of the three but is generally perceived by others as good.”
John stares at Sherlock in a mixture of horror and wonderment.
“By that reasoning I’m either evil or indifferent, as is my brother. In fact, Mycroft is probably quite unrepentantly evil, at least on a personal level. Inside our own heads we are not model citizens but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Mycroft helps to maintain the integrity of the state and its basic sovereignty against all others, and that I’m aiding the judiciary by both dealing with crimes and leading other citizens to believe that the established authorities are a lot more effective than they really are.”
“You... you don’t even know that the Earth goes round the Sun but you...” John stops in his tracks.
“What?”
“Sherlock...“ John doesn’t even know if he’s asking for an explanation anymore.
“The causes and ends of the greatest politic actions and motions of state dazzle the eyes and exceed the capacities of all men, save only those that are hourly versed in managing public affairs.”
“What?”
“Filmer. Patriarcha.”
“Okay...”
“Classical political theory.”
“So... you can quote...” John throws his hands up. “I don’t know.”
“If I can understand how people think then it creates a frame of reference.” Sherlock says, gently, evidently wanting John to understand. “Every observation would be meaningless without knowing what it means. I can’t- well, that’s discourse theory. Unimportant right now but-“
“Discourse theory.”
“Yes.”
“What- why- I just- can we go home? I think I need some tea.”
-
“Of course good and evil are arbitrary notions.” Sherlock adds with a wink once Anderson is out of earshot.
John laughs in spite of himself. “Did you just make that up then? That bit about good, bad and indifferent people?”
“Of course not. It’s one of Mycroft’s pet causes.”
John opens his mouth to say something, express disbelief, surprise, acknowledgement, but he doesn’t know which it will be so instead refrains from saying anything.
“Good and evil are arbitrary.” Sherlock continues. “Maintaining the established state structure tends to be a general indication of goodness, as does abiding by the established legal framework. Maintaining territorial authority, even if that means supporting the legitimate use of violence against your own citizens tends to be good. Committing normative acts on a daily basis to reassure fellow citizens is... can be any of the three but is generally perceived by others as good.”
John stares at Sherlock in a mixture of horror and wonderment.
“By that reasoning I’m either evil or indifferent, as is my brother. In fact, Mycroft is probably quite unrepentantly evil, at least on a personal level. Inside our own heads we are not model citizens but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Mycroft helps to maintain the integrity of the state and its basic sovereignty against all others, and that I’m aiding the judiciary by both dealing with crimes and leading other citizens to believe that the established authorities are a lot more effective than they really are.”
“You... you don’t even know that the Earth goes round the Sun but you...” John stops in his tracks.
“What?”
“Sherlock...“ John doesn’t even know if he’s asking for an explanation anymore.
“The causes and ends of the greatest politic actions and motions of state dazzle the eyes and exceed the capacities of all men, save only those that are hourly versed in managing public affairs.”
“What?”
“Filmer. Patriarcha.”
“Okay...”
“Classical political theory.”
“So... you can quote...” John throws his hands up. “I don’t know.”
“If I can understand how people think then it creates a frame of reference.” Sherlock says, gently, evidently wanting John to understand. “Every observation would be meaningless without knowing what it means. I can’t- well, that’s discourse theory. Unimportant right now but-“
“Discourse theory.”
“Yes.”
“What- why- I just- can we go home? I think I need some tea.”