"Society, therefore, as it becomes more enlightened, should be very careful not to establish bodies of men who must necessarily be made foolish or vicious by the very constitution of their profession."
-- Mary Wollstonecraft
@ejworthing Wow! Was she referring to particular professions?
@clew Yes! She identifies four corrupting professions. (Keep in mind she's writing in 1792.)
1. Military officers in peacetime, b/c their only job is to please their superiors. They submit mindlessly, tyrannize their subordinates, engage in pointless rituals, obsess about "honor" (reputation), and spend too much time in front of the mirror.
2. Upper-class, non-working women, because their only job is to please men. Their vices are largely the same as the vices of military officers.
3.Clergy in a hierarchical church, b/c they advance primarily by pleasing their superiors in the hierarchy. They thus repeat their superiors' opinions mindlessly. (This was a criticism of certain churches, not of religion in general!)
4. Monarchs, b/c power corrupts. Those who inherit power are usually badly brought up. Those who come to power in other ways usually get power through crime. They are all surrounded by flatterers, who prevent them from learning about their vices.
Lessons that apply today:
Occupations in which people's only job is to please other people and to satisfy their arbitrary, capricious preferences tend to be corrupting.
Hierarchical professions, in which people need to please specific superiors to advance, are especially likely to be corrupting.
If a social role gives people unchecked power, people in that role will be surrounded by flatterers. They won't face real criticism. Their bad character traits will tend to get worse.
