Worked through in 1 video · 3 passages.
Dominique Pagani approaches axiological neutrality from two angles. On the one hand, he applies it to technical means: a means is neutral with regard to values; one does not condemn the knife but the person who stabs with it, since good and evil belong to man alone. Means never make a morality, and one must not put the means on trial1. The more powerful a means, the more it makes both good and evil possible: with the atom, one cures cancers or razes Nagasaki2. On the other hand, regarding the sciences of history, he considers this neutrality legitimate in the strictly scientific part of the work, but illusory as soon as one uses natural language: saying "the sun rises" already gives value to what is high3. Finally, he points to a disquieting neutrality, concerned only with what governs things, with no regard for values4.
Summary produced automatically from 5 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.
Cycle 9.2 · 14 Jan 2021#9.12 How can sciences of history be real?