We ought not . . . to be on the look-out for blemishes and weaknesses in the lives, for instance, of men such as Socrates. The practice is not only useless but harmful. It provides us with examples of moral imperfection and enables us to flatter ourselves whatever our own moral imperfection. Eagerness to discover faults in others betrays malice and envy of the morality we see shining in others when we are conscious of its absence in ourselves.
(Immanuel Kant, Lectures on Ethics, trans. Louis Infield, The Library of Religion and Culture, ed. Benjamin Nelson [New York: Harper & Row, 1963 (first published in 1930)], 66 [ellipsis added])
Note from KBJ: Kant is perhaps correct that we should not be "on the look-out for" or "eager" to find fault with others, but I see no good reason to refrain altogether from doing so. The faults we observe in great people, such as Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr, remind us that they are like us. We see that flawed (morally imperfect) people can do magnificent things. Jefferson and King were great in spite of their flaws. They overcame their all-too-human weaknesses to improve the lot of others. They transcended their time and place. These are important lessons for all of us, but especially for our children.
