OOPS: It occurred to me last night that, in my modern political thought class, I have argued both of the following recently:
1. There can be no such thing as Rousseau's General Will, because people are unable to get beyond their particular interests except to make such vague generalizations ("security is good") as to be entirely useless.
2. There can be such a thing as Kant's Categorical Imperative, because people can remove all considerations of particularity in the consideration of moral actions.
...and these certainly appear to be somewhat incongruous. This should make for an interesting paper topic, though, as I think I can hold both those opinions without contradicting myself.
"Thou shalt not extinguish thine anger, but shall master it,
that thy conscience may not be blunted by adjustment
to wrong causes."
-The Dutch Ten Commandments to Foil the Nazis
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