It's also a weird sort of historical revisionism because it implicitly assumes that people in the past were one homogeneous blob which all shared in the identical set of moral standards.
Like, at which point in time did everyone unanimously agree upon moral standards again? Remind me.
Not to mention the fact that it's inherently classist and racist; it might have been considered "moral" to incite pogroms against Jewish people in European history but... that's only according to the people who held the most influential positions in politics and philosophy. You can't tell me that the family of Jewish people who had to flee their village because they risked getting lynched were like:
"This is a terrible tragedy that has befallen us and we have lost everything. However it should be noted that, on the other hand, it is entirely morally-justified."
So when people talk about the moral standards of history, they're talking about the moral standards of those who held hegemonic power over society (and that basically means wealthy white men) to the exclusion of everyone else.
This is the thing I always bring up in these arguments. Like, yes, most slave owners thought slavery was cool but I’m pretty sure most of the slaves disagreed. It’s a really chauvinist viewpoint that disregards most of the people living in the period being discussed.
It's also a weird sort of historical revisionism because it implicitly assumes that people in the past were one homogeneous blob which all shared in the identical set of moral standards.
Like, at which point in time did everyone unanimously agree upon moral standards again? Remind me.
Not to mention the fact that it's inherently classist and racist; it might have been considered "moral" to incite pogroms against Jewish people in European history but... that's only according to the people who held the most influential positions in politics and philosophy. You can't tell me that the family of Jewish people who had to flee their village because they risked getting lynched were like:
"This is a terrible tragedy that has befallen us and we have lost everything. However it should be noted that, on the other hand, it is entirely morally-justified."
So when people talk about the moral standards of history, they're talking about the moral standards of those who held hegemonic power over society (and that basically means wealthy white men) to the exclusion of everyone else.
This is the thing I always bring up in these arguments. Like, yes, most slave owners thought slavery was cool but I’m pretty sure most of the slaves disagreed. It’s a really chauvinist viewpoint that disregards most of the people living in the period being discussed.