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ISSN: 0974-892X

VOL. III
ISSUE I
January, 2009

 

 

Mukesh Williams

Interrogating Radical Choice

(for Hannah Arendt)

 

We can provide endless explanations to
Why some people choose essential good
And others radical evil.
We can delve into their education,
Background, singular experiences, character,
To establish beyond reasonable doubt
Why they do what they do.

For more veracity we can even enlist
The services of modern disciplines
Like psychology and social sciences,
To support our conclusions,
But the reason why people
Opt for this and not for that
May never be completely understood.

There is always a Kantian dissatisfaction,
An inscrutable black hole,
That sucks up the final evidence
Of why people choose opposites,
Even an Arendtian reflection on thinking
And its relationship to judging
May not fix the final responsibility.

We are left wondering
About our faculty of judgment,
Our exact responsibility for the
Things we do.
In the absence of an indubitable answer
We remain free beyond measure
To make an uninformed choice.