Morality, morality are concepts that have always been closely connected with the life of society and have changed with the epoch. Some of their categories refer to the so-called eternal values. Others are relative. And what was considered unacceptable at one time, becomes perfectly acceptable in another.
Categories of ugliness
Our article is devoted to the concept of "moral monsters". In order to understand it, it is necessary to study the phenomenon of ugliness from an aesthetic, ethical, lexical point of view. Let's start with the first one. Standards of beauty, for all their subjectivity, boiled down to a certain uniformity. If it was a person, he had the right facial features, proportional slender physique, presence of paired limbs, organs (eyes, ears). Everything had to function normally. Any deviations in appearance, causing negative emotions, were perceived by others as non-standard. The meaning of the word "freak" in this case was identical to the concepts "ugly", "ugly", "repulsive", "unpleasant". Remember the famous novels of Victor Hugo - "The Man Who Laughs" and "Notre Dame Cathedral". Their main characters - the hunchback Quasimodo and the wandering actor Guinplain - are typical aesthetic renegades. They are literally terrible outwardly, even a casual glance at them plunges the soul into awe.
Ethics and aesthetics
But in this same example, we can easily be convinced of another: between the beauty of the ethical and the aesthetic there is no sign of equality. Therefore, a moral monster and a freak in appearance are often on opposite poles. The same Quasimodo was able to exalted beautiful feelings, to the feat of self-sacrifice in the name of love. His soul, enclosed in an ugly shell of the body, is surprisingly beautiful, because its basis is made up of the best human qualities. But the spiritual antagonist hunchback - the priest Claude Frollo - outwardly quite ordinary, and there is a real one, you can say a classic moral monster. Why? This despotic ascetic, consciously killing in himself all human weaknesses and feelings. Devoting his existence to God, he forgot that the Lord is love: to people, light, beauty, life. A hypocrite and a misanthrope, the priest destroys the young Esmeralda because she awakened in his body and heart those needs and emotions with which Frollo struggled for years and, as he thought, managed to win. Consequently, a moral monster - one who violates the norms of human cohabitation, acts contrary to them. Who betrays, commits cruel, vile, criminal actions. Another character of the work is suitable for this category - Captain Phoebus, a handsome officer who conquered Esmeralda by courteous approach and a showy shine. How sunny his name is, so mean and low is the hero's soul and unsightly behavior.
Moral and immoral
"Moral" and "immoral" are words-antonyms, and in this sense the phrase "immoral freak" means the highest degree of immorality, spiritual squalor, moral fall. Who is suitable for this category? Any person, regardless of gender and age, consciously acting badly. It is immoral to offend the defenseless, to humiliate the weak: to kick the kitten, to abandon the dog to the mercy of fate, to abandon the child or elderly parents. To say stuff behind the back of a friend, to "sit up" a colleague, to deceive the one who trusted is also unscrupulous and goes beyond what is permissible. And in this respect, the ordinary envious person, angrily glancing at a more successful neighbor, and the government of the largest country, stealing national wealth, festering their people or inciting war, are equally criminal.
It is immoral that it is vicious that it becomes inconsistent with the universal human code of Good.