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Moral Heroes from Most Disappointing to Least Disappointing
He did travel around treating lepers, so that earns some points. But he lied, stole, cheated, and generally seemed to have extremely poor judgment. The opposite of wisdom. Failing grade. He’s a morality tale, not a moral hero.
Mostly, I’m disappointed in him because he was my archetype of a moral hero growing up, so he had nowhere to go but down. His disappointment mainly stems from being a product of his time and geography. That is to say, he was a product of Indian culture in the 1890s—so obsessed with asceticism. He seemed less focused on helping others and more obsessed with giving up anything pleasurable. His autobiography describes a time when he felt he’d failed his fast simply because when he broke the fast he enjoyed the food. Altruism sometimes falls into this extreme of just focusing on sacrifice, but I find this sort of altruism depressing. I want to help others and have a good time doing so. It’s also pointless! In my opinion, his abstinence from salt was a distraction from helping others. He’s still obviously a moral hero, but he’s disappointing to me because I want someone to aspire to, not someone I’d rather avoid being.
Not Martin Luther King Jr.—the original Martin Luther. He’s kind of the opposite of Gandhi. Gandhi was disappointing because I held him on a pedestal, while Martin Luther was a pleasant surprise. I thought he was just a Medieval theologian debating angels on pins, so he had nowhere to go but up. Of course, he was still from the Medieval ages, so he was deeply sexist, anti-Semitic, and generally would be very awkward to have at a modern dinner party. But that dude was a rationalist hero. He refused to recant, even when his life was threatened. He fought for better epistemics in the most important thing at the time, religion, and he took ideas and ethics seriously. I find that deeply admirable.
Martin Luther King Jr. is the first moral hero I read about who mostly lived up to his reputation. He is moderately disappointing because he cheated on his wife, but if there’s anything I’ve learned about life, it’s that nobody is perfect. He gets an A. He seems to have genuinely warranted his moral hero status.
The more I learn about Mandela, the more I admire him—and I already had a high opinion of him! This is the opposite of disappointment. His first wife accused him of cheating, but it seems to be a he-said, she-said situation, possibly explained by her suspicions about him staying out late for political meetings. And regardless of whether that’s true, everything else he did seems incredibly wise. His ability to see everyone with love and understanding while still maintaining a backbone of steel is something I deeply aspire to. Reading about him inevitably makes me sit up straight and feel goodwill toward all. He consistently makes me tear up with happiness and makes me want to do better. He's deeply ennobling.
Benjamin Franklin fought for abolition, smallpox vaccinations, free speech, libraries, fire departments, democracy, compromise, self-development, and a host of other social causes. He invented things that improved the lives of many, like lightning rods and smokeless house fires, along with countless other useful innovations. The guy helped others and was happy. And he didn’t cheat on his wife! His combination of altruism and personal happiness makes him the most admirable moral hero I’ve come across so far. A+ and top of your class, Ben. 🥇 Read more: All
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