{"id":1259,"date":"2026-01-29T06:44:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T06:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/?p=1259"},"modified":"2026-02-01T06:19:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T06:19:50","slug":"on-politics-and-morality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/?p=1259","title":{"rendered":"ON POLITICS AND MORALITY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Peter M. Rojcewicz, PhD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bainbridge Island, WA<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/OIP-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"270\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/OIP-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1262\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Current social unrest across the nation raises some philosophical and pragmatic questions fundamental to culture, politics, morality, and human relations. Two such pertinent issues raised are whether politics transcends morality or whether morality transcends the laws of the state?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If morality transcends politics and the laws of the state doesn\u2019t that mean that our laws are weak and that anyone can break them, if one\u2019s conscience so instructs? One might think here of the figures of Socrates, Antigone, Thoreau, and other morally propelled individuals of Western culture. If morality transcends politics does this lead to a loose society wherein people do not respect law or authority?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, if politics transcends morality, does that mean that politics is a unique condition of life, a model of how to live with and among others? If politics transcends morality because people will not live by and be constrained by moral principles, does that mean morality is mere expediency of self-advantage and non-existent as a transcendent guide of behavior? If morality does not effectively apply to politics, then to what does it apply and why? What might effectively serve both the pragmatic order of the body politic and abstract individual values? What lived experience and quality might help forge a mind disciplined to be simultaneously more abstract and more concrete? &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alfred North Whitehead asserted that a \u201csense of style,\u201d what he saw as the last acquisition of an educated mind and pervades one\u2019s entire being, was essential. Style is intimate with knowledge and power. In \u201cThe Aims of Education,\u201d Whitehead pointed out, \u201cStyle is the fashioning of power, the restraining of power.\u201d Style, across all human sectors \u2013 science, literature, art, social engagement \u2013 is about accomplishment and constraint. In the arts, for example, a performer gives oneself to the generic constraints of a <em>metier, <\/em>while simultaneously satisfying one\u2019s personal goals and aspirations.&nbsp; As Whitehead knew, \u201cWith style your power is increased, for your mind is not distracted with irrelevancies, and you are more likely to attain your object.\u201d The style of everyday life among others and the earth in community calls for citizens to live aesthetically as unique works of relational art.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Peter M. Rojcewicz, PhD Bainbridge Island, WA Current social unrest across the nation raises some philosophical and pragmatic questions fundamental to culture, politics, morality, and human relations. Two such pertinent issues raised are whether politics transcends morality or whether morality transcends the laws of the state? If morality transcends politics and the laws of the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/?p=1259\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">ON POLITICS AND MORALITY<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1259"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1267,"href":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259\/revisions\/1267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterrphd.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}