The moral life consist in doing the right thing from a motive related to some virtue we believe we admire. Being the conduct of autonomous agents, it is the essence of freedom. The servile mind, by contrast, is marked by an extreme dependency of judgement on outside powers, and particularly a concern with the substantive benefits (money, food, sex, etc.) that might result from an action whatever the moral considerations might be. Both forms of conduct will be found in modern societies at all times, but the remarkable thing is that many aspects of contemporary life, since early in the twentieth century, have tended to facilitate servility rather than independence.
The Servile Mind – How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life by Kenneth Minogue
Full review when I’m done reading.
