EPISODE · Apr 8, 2011 · 50 MIN
Comus, rape, and freedom
from amimetobios · host Amimetobios
Comus vs. the lady. The moral asymmetry of rape: seduction is better with respect to the victim but worse with respect to devotion to abstract moral principle, because rape (as the Lady says) does not touch her mind, whereas seduction would. And yet rape is clearly a far worse crime than seduction, because it enslaves and does violence to the victim as seduction doesn't. So the moral quality of Comus is ambiguous as long as he remains a seducer. When he becomes a would-be rapist, he is clearly evil but also clearly impotent in his wish to do evil, since nothing he can do to the lady discredits her.
What this episode covers
Comus vs. the lady. The moral asymmetry of rape: seduction is better with respect to the victim but worse with respect to devotion to abstract moral principle, because rape (as the Lady says) does not touch her mind, whereas seduction would. And yet rape is clearly a far worse crime than seduction, because it enslaves and does violence to the victim as seduction doesn't. So the moral quality of Comus is ambiguous as long as he remains a seducer. When he becomes a would-be rapist, he is clearly evil but also clearly impotent in his wish to do evil, since nothing he can do to the lady discredits her.
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Comus, rape, and freedom
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