Judith Shklar's 1755 Lisbon Earthquake

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Judith Shklar begins her theoretical work with an historical account of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The townspeople who were impacted were also adamant that this natural disaster was a punishment from God. However, other well-known philosophers, with the exception of Voltaire, shared different perspectives on where to place the blame. Rousseau strongly believed that the individuals who had political power were responsible for the earthquake’s impact. His reasoning stems from his knowledge of the city’s construction of houses with multiple stories that were not built to last against extreme force. In this case, the number of deaths could have been prevented if city officials were aware of the importance of satisfying housing regulations. Kant encouraged those around him to learn about the science behind earthquakes as well as proposed that wars are disasters. This is an excellent scenario where Shklar introduces her argument …show more content…

“We are likely to cry injustice,” when we have been wronged for either arbitrary entities that are simply out of our control or we have identified ourselves with a marginalized group due to personal experiences. On the other hand, when we have the slightest feeling that “we might be the actual or even imaginable victimizer,” our mindset inherently persuades us to label a situation as a misfortune in order to avoid blame and/or guilt. These two emotions are psychological aids that tend to help individuals to make sense as well as cope with injustices that they might have experienced. Rhetorically speaking, a misfortune gives off the connotation that an issue is of less severity and its impact is purely by chance. It is difficult to assign blame in this manner, especially when misfortunes occur on the daily basis. However, an injustice provokes an immediate urge to act, thus precluding the creation of more victims and labeling someone as a

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