Who Should Get A Moral Pass?

Are Artists and Philosophers Exceptional?

I’m hosting an “Ask Me Anything” series with Interintellect on Philosophy, Theology, Spirituality, and Poetry. The first salon is this tomorrow, Thursday, January 27th at 8:30 PM EST. Reserve your ticket here.

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I asked Twitter if artists and/or philosophers should get a moral pass. I left the meaning of “moral pass” open. The economist and podcaster, Russ Roberts, asked who is giving out the moral pass. One could certainly flesh out the parameters of the question.

Nonetheless, it’s fascinating that of the 41% who accept the validity of moral passes, artists trounce philosophers. Especially when viewed in isolation—only 4% of those polled think philosophers should get a moral pass, but not artists.

Here’s my rough hypothesis as to why artists, but not philosophers, might get a moral pass:

• We don’t expect artists to care about the truth, but do we do expect philosophers to care about it. So to the extent that morality has something to do with truth, immorality disqualifies philosophers, but not artists.

• We expect philosophers to tell us how to live. But how can they be trusted if they don’t live lives we think of as good? But we do not expect artists to tell us how to live, or at least, to tell us didactically.

• Good art requires perspective-taking. Good philosophy doesn’t require perspective-taking. Artists channel the difficulties of experience and decision-making. Philosophers seek to resolve those difficulties. Philosophers tell us what to do. Artists tell us how we struggle. The artist is a seeker, the philosopher a guide. We expect more of guides than seekers. Not only that, but to be a good seeker, one might even need to be non-exemplary.

Although Hannah Arendt believed artists get a moral pass, she still thought there was a line they couldn’t cross without their art suffering. Brecht crossed the line when he became a Stalinist, she says. His art stopped being art and became propaganda. Brecht’s art doesn’t become false when he stops being a free-thinker. Rather, it becomes flat.

For me, the question of moral pass is not about honoring vs. memory-holing artists and thinkers, it’s not about deplatforming them—it’s about the question of whether the ability to learn from and enjoy the work is ruined by the personal life of the author.