Excellent points, Tibor, and they echo some that I’ve made in a recent piece.

I suspect that Dyson might be making an equivocation between what I call cognitive understanding and empathetic understanding. The former doesn’t always lead to the latter and indeed may prohibit it in the case of vicious individuals. Of course, if one holds the doctrine that all evil is do to ignorance, as Socrates and the Stoics held, all cognitive understanding should yield an empathetic understanding for the mistakes of our enemies.

Bad ideas don’t die an easy death, unfortunately.

Mike Erickson said: In general it is foolish not to respect your enemies. In the sense that to disrespect them is to underestimate them. To underestimate a human who wants to kill you is to give him one more weapon against you.

Mike, I cannot disagree more. For me, respect, is a word that has the connotation of expressing a degree of reverence.

Respect: the condition of being esteemed or honored, to hold in esteem or honor, to show regard or consideration for, to refrain from intruding upon or interfering with, to relate or have reference to.

In fact, Mike, I would say that to respect ones enemies, is to give him one more weapon against you; and it will be the weapon by which he will defeat you.

Disrespect and arrogance are not synonymous; nor does one necessarily lead to the other.

One should never become arrogant in regards to ones enemies, for in that sense one may foster an overconfidence and brashness that can lead to the underestimation of the threat they pose. However, one should never, ever, respect their enemies, - for in doing so, you would be granting them a measure of moral sanction.

For example: During the Second World War, the NAZI’s were spoken of with a total disrespect and utter contempt; the images of their leaders were caricaturized, their statements and writings belittled, and their regime was loathed and considered beyond the pale of human decency. And yet, during the war with the Axis powers, at no time did our nation ever underestimate the grave threat posed by their military. So much so, that in many instances the United States military was somewhat overly cautious in its conduct of the war.  So while it was proper to be weary of, and acknowledge, German military prowess and the genius of some of their Generals; this was a “respect” within a very limited and highly specific context.

But within the greater overall context of our enemy as a whole (morally and ideologically), the Nazi's were unworthy of even a modicum of respect, and our ridicule and contempt towards them was wholly proper. And the same should apply to our enemies today, regardless of whether it's some bearded low-life Koran thumper - intent on blowing up buildings, or the crack-head next door - intent on robbing your home.

George

(Edited by George W. Cordero on 10/21, 5:12am)