From Mr P. P. Dingli

Is it appropriate to judge people in the public eye for actions they perform in their private lives? I don’t feel I can. However, from footballers to philosophers, actors to pop stars across many cultures, have been asked to be role models to a society that feels a need for close to perfect role models. I don’t believe this is what public figures signed up for when they embarked on their particular cares.

A case in point is the iconic partnership of Simone de Beauvoir and J P Sartre. I read Marie Benoit’s piece with interest as always and this time I sense a contradiction in her argument. She says that she will not be purchasing a copy of Dangerous Liaisons (Carole Seymour-Jones) because of her lack of interest in the “sordid details of their lives”. However, like me, Ms Benoit sees in both Simone de Beauvoir and J P Sartre two philosophers who have altered the course of western culture. Now this is rather a grand claim and I feel it is justified. In this “couple” we find the seeds of Existentialism and Feminism. That’s pretty big in anyone’s books. So the “sordid details” surely must have fed their thinking and ultimately their writings.

How do we judge others? Whose morality do we use as a yardstick? Is our morality superior to others? I am not advocating that anything goes and that we should live in an anarchic moral vacuum, however it is dangerous to maintain a moral stand that imposes a standard on others. Many religions throughout history have tried to do this and the result is a society that is often confused by not being able to live by a moral code that often conflicts with their personal morality. Thank you.

Peter P. Dingli

TEMPLESTOWE

AUSTRALIA