Explaining a behavior through ordinary social processes does not excuse it morally

Evidence

Just because negative aspects of human behavior can be understood in terms of natural social-psychological processes does not imply that such be­ haviors are any less reprehensible. The comprehensibility of an event is inde­ pendent of its justification (or lack thereof). — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 903

Categorization

• APHORISMS: Reads as genuine, portable life-advice about how to hold explanation and condemnation together without collapsing one into the other.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s corpus of works where causal/social analysis is mistaken for moral exculpation. — connects to: Conventions, not instincts or rationality, best explain much human behavior — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 186; Explaining cruel conduct does not excuse it

Broader Connections

• Explaining cruel conduct does not excuse it #exemplifies (0.95)