The Moral Philosophy of Horror
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Don’t flinch.
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Never succumb.
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ENDURE UNTIL THE END.
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Foment the Chaos of Kindness.
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Accept the Kindness of Chaos.
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I have often questioned whether my love for the macabre is ethical.
If we ask what the big questions of philosophy are, we’ll find that even that question has different answers, depending on who we ask.
It’s a conundrum that we cannot agree on a moral stance, yet likely all for the better that we don’t, as it seems that when large groups of people agree on things, they tend to persecute smaller groups and individuals on behalf of those beliefs.
It behooves those of us who indulge in the darker side of imagination to cultivate an ethical and moral stance unique to our disposition; but each to their own, so long as they harm none!
I venture here, for your consideration, A Moral Philosophy of Horror.
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Don’t Flinch
Emergency Medical Technicians who faint at the sight of blood aren’t going to be very good at keeping people alive.
As earnest students of reality, with an eye toward improving it, we aren’t going to be effective if we avoid those aspects of it which are unpleasant.
Pleasantry is not always civil. Civility is not always pleasant.
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Never Succumb
Though we must face evil in the world, we should never seek to glorify or become it. Horror is real, and there’s no shortage of it in the real world. We render it artistically so that we might face it both in ourselves and in our environment.
We dream evil so we might do good.
We must always be on guard against becoming those monsters which we wrest from the ether and are fortunate indeed when we can redeem the monster and ourselves.
Frankenstein is a cautionary tale about creation, not an imprecation against it. The doctor’s great mistake was running from that which he should have loved.
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ENDURE UNTIL THE END
We mustn’t take masochistic pleasure in our suffering, for at some point we must hold our head high in the face of it and move forward.
It suffers around us, but we are above it, as a beacon that bids it rise above its own station.
Suffering is inevitable, but not eternal, and any threat of such is merely the wind from a bigot’s ass.
Yeah, I say again: suffering does not endure, but yields to pleasure and peace like a starving dog before a kindly offered meal, after which it follows faithfully, a useful friend.
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Foment the Kindness of Chaos
Punch up rather than across or down.
Be not concerned about escaping the fray. Be the fray which the haughty prefer to avoid.
Know the difference between strength and power. Know the distinction between the merely weak and the voluntarily peaceful.
Chaos is kind where it disrupts an unholy order; and oh-so-much fun!
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Accept the Kindness of Chaos
Life isn’t easy and we aren’t perfect. Sometimes the cosmos has got to plant a friendly foot on our ass and push to get us moving!
Don’t hate the cosmos. Its nature is change and it will not—cannot!—bear stagnation indefinitely.
Explore the Horror and Terror and Pain with open eyes. Chaos is giving you an opportunity to make something meaningful, maybe even beautiful, from it all.
The Midwestern U.S. is not known as a repository of wisdom, but there’s an old saw that the farmers used around here, and which my dearly departed father would often echo:
Tough titty said the kitty but the milk’s still good.
On that note, don’t give up on your self, dear reader. Wherever we are, we can always keep moving.
Zombies don’t give up and neither should we!
On that note, I leave you with another wise old saw my pop used to pull out in times of need—primarily when he knew I needed to get my ass moving!
Get to steppin’!
Who Spiders the Spider-Men?
