One of the real dangers of loyalty is that it may become associated with certain types of group-think, … - John Kleinig

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Fun, that's the word I keep on using. That's the word I worry about when other writer's scripts get too dark. Optimistic. Fun. And to be optimistic and have fun there's got to be a darkness there. I think that's a very British attitude.

John Kleinig

One of the real dangers of loyalty is that it may become associated with certain types of group-think, chauvinism, jingoism, and thus become socially destructive in ways that many other virtues are not likely to be when they are corrupted. Nationalism and patriotism are especially prone to misguided excess.

Corrupted, Loyalty, Patriotism, Real, Virtue, Virtues

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I see loyalty - roughly perseverance in relational commitments despite the cost of such perseverance - as an important human value
virtue. Think of it as a kind of relational glue.

Commitment, Commitments, Cost, Kind, Loyalty, Perseverance

I see ethical considerations as having a certain priority in our interactions - passing judgment on our political and legal processes.

Judgment, Passing, Political, Priorities, Processes

Police have both extra constraints and extra permissions - on the one hand, they can't dodge involvement in social disorder as the rest of us can and they may be required to conduct themselves privately in a way that does not undermine their public authority; on the other hand, they have permission to engage in deceptions, invasions of privacy and uses of force that are forbidden to the rest of us. But this does not put them beyond common morality.

Deception, Engage, Hand, Morality, Police, Required

What we have to ask is this: what can we morally expect of and allow to people whom we deploy to fulfill this or that social role :police officer, school teacher, physician? This may sometimes lead to difficult social decisions - e. g. should police be permitted to illegally import drugs as part of a sting operation? In the end, I think "common - that is, critical - morality" should determine the limits of the police role.

Illegally, Import, Police, School, Teacher, Thinking

There will always be situations in which conflicts arise between individual and communal values - Catholic police officers deployed to enable women to enter abortion clinics without harassment and doctors who oppose performing abortions. No social role is free of such potential conflicts.

Abortion, Catholic, Performing, Police, Social