An unselfish abstract idea is what redeems conquest from being mere theft

Evidence

The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea-something you can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 668

Categorization

• XREF: This is a direct quote from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (Marlow’s speech), being deployed by Dokman in a new philosophical context about colonial ideology.
• SEED: The rhetorical mechanism — that ideals function as idols one bows to — is a rich vein for an essay on how ‘noble’ abstractions (development, freedom, progress) license material violence.