I don’t think you’ve established that Lenin was a jerk, in the sense of moral responsibility.
I think people usually have little control (and little illusion of freedom) over what options, consequences and (moral) reasons they consider, as well as what reasons and emotions they find compelling, and how much. Therefore, they can’t be blamed for an error in (moral) judgement unless they were under the illusion they could have come to a different judgement. It seems you’ve only established the possibility that someone is morally culpable for a wrong act that they themselves believed was wrong before acting. How often is that actually the case, even for the acts you find repugnant?
Lenin might have thought he was doing the right thing. Psychopaths may not adequately consider the consequences of their actions and recognize much strength in moral reasons.
I don’t think you’ve established that Lenin was a jerk, in the sense of moral responsibility.
I think people usually have little control (and little illusion of freedom) over what options, consequences and (moral) reasons they consider, as well as what reasons and emotions they find compelling, and how much. Therefore, they can’t be blamed for an error in (moral) judgement unless they were under the illusion they could have come to a different judgement. It seems you’ve only established the possibility that someone is morally culpable for a wrong act that they themselves believed was wrong before acting. How often is that actually the case, even for the acts you find repugnant?
Lenin might have thought he was doing the right thing. Psychopaths may not adequately consider the consequences of their actions and recognize much strength in moral reasons.
There are no universally compelling arguments, after all.