用法学习: 1. stoush [staʊʃ] informal Australian and New Zealand English verb hit; fight with. "get out of that car while I stoush you". noun. a brawl or other fight. a fight or disagreement: They keep getting into drunken stoushes with each other in pub car parks. The club will close on June 23 after a long stoush with residents. "the prospect of the game deteriorating into a stoush always kept me hooked". Kyle Sandilands and ARN may face ugly legal stoush after Jackie O departure from show. 2. frame of mind the way someone thinks or feels about something at a particular time: in a frame of mind The most important thing is to go into the exam in a positive frame of mind. frame of reference a set of ideas or facts accepted by a person that explains their behaviour, opinions, or decisions: How can Christians and atheists ever come to understand each other when their frames of reference are so different? frame adj. A frame building 木制结构的房子, 木框架的建筑 is one in which pieces of wood form the most important part of the structure, rather than bricks or stone. He lives in a white-painted frame house behind a picket fence up in Connecticut. wiki: Timber framing and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the structural frame of load-bearing timber is left exposed on the exterior of the building it may be referred to as half-timbered, and in many cases the infill between timbers will be used for decorative effect. The country most known for this kind of architecture is Germany, where timber-framed houses are spread all over the country. plank house: A plank house is a type of house constructed by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, typically using cedar 北美桥柏 planks. a house built of planks especially one of the rather large usually rectangular and elaborately constructed buildings prevailingly used by American Indians but also by some Eskimos of the northwest coast of North America and adjacent Siberia. Cedar logs compose the primary support system of the plank houses of the Pacific Northwest Indians and are clad with thick cedar planks harvested from living trees. Cedar trees have a straight grain with very few knots and have good weather resistance. The straight grain enables the separation of planks of wood from the tree. Craftspeople would insert a wedge to create a section of wood through the tree's height and remove it with an adze at both ends. This harvest method was sustainable and enabled the people to use the wood and to have a supply of planks to rebuild in another location. The people's patience is evident in the practice of leaving the wedge in place to continue the pressure that would enable another wedge placement further up, creating longer planks. verb. I. 框起来. 相框. to fix a border around a picture, etc. and often glass in front of it. to fix a border around a picture, photograph, etc., often with glass in front of it: We had our wedding pictures framed. fig. Her small face was framed by the open door. I keep meaning to get that photo framed. II. to form an edge to something in an attractive way. If an object is framed by a particular thing, it is surrounded by that thing in a way that makes the object more striking or attractive to look at. The swimming pool is framed 环绕, 围绕 by tropical gardens. An elegant occasional table is framed in the window. Her new hairstyle frames her face in a much more flattering way. II. [ T often passive ] informal to make a person seem to be guilty of a crime when they are not, by producing facts or information that are not true: He claimed he'd been framed 陷害, 栽赃 by the police. III. to present or describe something in a particular way: be framed as 描述为, 说得好像 The smoking ban was framed as a way to protect workers from secondhand smoke. It is easy, but not helpful, to frame this situation as "us against them". He suggested framing the issue positively. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese framed the move as part of Australia's responsibility to support international stability. Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that Australia was considering requests from Gulf nations for assistance in defending themselves against Iranian missile and drone attacks. If someone frames something in a particular style or kind of language, they express it in that way. The story is framed in a format that is part thriller, part love story. He framed this question three different ways in search of an answer. IV. to express something, choosing your words carefully: The interview would have been more productive if the questions had been framed 措辞 more precisely. Lawyers have framed the clause very carefully. Words such as "however", "because",and "therefore" are key to framing an argument. V. to carefully plan or organize ideas, suggestions, methods, etc., in a particular way. If someone frames something such as a set of rules, a plan, or a system, they create and develop it. After the war, a convention was set up to frame a constitution. Their conclusions are framed in such a way that if one piece of evidence were shown to be false, the argument would be suspect. 3. needle 麻烦, 唠叨, 烦扰 to annoy someone, especially by repeated criticism. If someone needles you, they annoy you continually, especially by criticizing you. Blake could see he had needled Jerrold, which might be unwise. His mother was always needling him about getting a job. Take a dog off a meat truck = talk the horns off a billy goat = talk the hind legs off a donkey = sell ice to an Eskimo = talk a dog off a meat wagon 把死人说话, 能说会道, 能言善辩, 巧舌如簧 extreme persuasiveness, meaning someone is so convincing they could persuade a dog to leave a truck full of meat. It describes someone with incredible negotiation or sales skills, often implying they can talk anyone into anything. The idea is that the dog is very interested in being on the meat truck, so talking him into leaving it is difficult. It's an example of a broad family of idioms along these lines, probably the most famous of which is sell ice to an Eskimo. a king's ransom 一大笔钱, 一大把钱, 很多钱 a large amount of money. If you refer to a sum of money as a king's ransom, you are emphasizing that it is very large. That diamond necklace must have cost a king's ransom. ...clients happy to pay a king's ransom for a haircut. be beyond/past redemption 无可救药, 谁也救不回来 to be too bad to be improved or saved by anyone: He believed passionately that no human was beyond redemption. redemption = redeem 兑换 I. the act of exchanging bonds, shares, etc. for money: Redemptions made by telephone for shares recently purchased by check will not be honored unless the check has cleared. For redemptions of $50,000 or more, you must include a signature guarantee for each owner. The bonds will be redeemed at 100% of their principal amount, plus interest to the redemption date. redemption requests/orders/penalties. redemption proceeds/fees/yields. make/request/submit a redemption: You may request a redemption or an exchange by calling our Shareholder Service Center. II. the act of paying back a loan: redemption of debt/a loan/a mortgage 偿还. The nation's largest jewelry retailer reported an 11% rise in earnings for the latest quarter, boosted by higher sales and the early redemption of debt. redemptive 救赎的 (especially in Christianity) saving someone from evil, suffering, etc.: the redemptive power of love, art, and friendship. The book tells a redemptive story of a woman who triumphs over adversity. punch-drunk 打懵逼了, 打傻了 I. If a boxer is punch-drunk, he behaves in a way that suggests his brain has been damaged as a result of being hit repeatedly on the head. II. 糊里糊涂的. Dizzy or confused due to repeat blows to the head. The fighter looked harmlessly punch drunk, but he was only faking and suddenly threw a vicious, skillful, blow. III. 不知所措的. 迷惑不解的. Behaving in a bewildered or dazed manner. out on one's feet I. (idiomatic) 傻了. 懵了. 懵逼了. dazed or stunned, but still standing [ said esp. of a boxer]. out of it, punch drunk. Standing erect but not consciously aware of one's surroundings, or only minimally aware, and having little or no ability to control one's bodily actions, as a result of physical injury or exhaustion. II. (idiomatic, by extension) Stupefied; dazed; nonfunctional. III. completely exhausted. Nationals leader David Littleproud has unexpectedly quit his post, declaring he is "buggered" and "out on my feet". Littleproud said to go on as leader "would be the wrong thing for me to do. I love the National Party. I grew up in it, I'll bleed, to the day I die, green and gold, I love it, and it'd be wrong for me to say that I'm the right person to continue to lead. That's tough for me to say, [that] I think someone better can do it, because I don't have the energy. I'm out of my feet. I'm done.". Etymology: From the sport of boxing, referring to fighter who is too stunned to fight effectively, but who does not collapse to the canvas. cut into something 占到, 占用, 侵占到 to take away or use part of a period of time or an amount of something: I don't like doing the shopping on Saturday afternoon because it cuts into my weekend. Long trips to take part in sports cut into student athletes' school days. Higher oil prices may be starting to cut into those countries' economic growth. All of these costs cut into our profit margins. 4. roil I. If water roils, it is rough and disturbed The water roiled to his left as he climbed carefully at the edge of the waterfall. II. 动荡不安 Something that roils a state or situation makes it disturbed and confused. Times of national turmoil generally roil 动荡, 动摇 a country's financial markets. zippy I. energetic or fast: a zippy car. a zippy performance. II. bright, fresh, or lively. "a wine with a zippy, zingy, almost citrusy tang". agency 自己做主, 自主性, 自主能力: the ability to take action or to choose what action to take: sense of agency The protest gave us a sense of agency, a sense of our own power to make a difference. When the legal system acquitted these women on the grounds of insanity it denied their agency. through the agency of someone/something because of the actions of someone or something: She was freed from prison through the agency of her doctor. 伊朗女足球运动员危机: "I respect their independence and agency 自主性 with whatever decision they chose." "We never told anyone it was time to end the meeting. If people wanted to stay and keep talking and miss that plane, they had agency to do that, as well.". 5. saunter [ˈsɔːntə] 漫步, 慢悠悠的走, 踱步, 信步 walk in a slow, relaxed manner. to walk in a slow and relaxed way, often in no particular direction. If you saunter somewhere, you walk there in a slow, casual way. We watched our fellow students saunter into the building. He sauntered along the river to the mill. She began a slow saunter toward the bonfires. He sauntered by, looking very pleased with himself. "Adam sauntered into the room". A hotel security guard in a blue shirt also joined the group. They talked some more, before the group sauntered casually towards the lobby's automatic doors. catch sb up = catch up with sb 追上, 赶上 I. to reach someone in front of you by going faster than them: I ran after her and managed to catch up with her. UK Go on to the shops without me, I'll catch you up. II. to reach the same quality or standard as someone or something else: We're a young, growing company, and we're trying to catch up to the competition. Will Western industry ever catch up with Japanese innovations? He was off school for a while and is finding it hard to catch up. III. to do something you did not have time to do earlier: She's staying late at the office to catch up with/on 补上, 紧着看, 抓紧看, 赶紧看 some reports. IV. to learn or discuss the latest news. to talk with someone you know in order to exchange news or information. To bring (someone) up to date with the news. After Alice's vacation, her boss caught her up on policy changes. I have to miss the end of the meeting, but you can catch me up later. By the time coffee came, R.J. and Angelo had caught up a little bit. Let's go for a coffee - I need to catch up on all the gossip. If you catch up on friends who you have not seen for some time or on their lives, you talk to them and find out what has happened in their lives since you last talked together. The women spent some time catching up on each other's work and families. She plans to return to Dublin to catch up with the relatives she has not seen since she married. catch-up I. a meeting or conversation in which people discuss what has happened since the last time that they met: I'm seeing my boss for a catch-up next week. Whether it's an after-work dinner, a catch-up with friends or family, or a romantic meal for two, this restaurant has what you need. II. the process of reaching the same standard, stage, or level as someone or something else. used to describe something that helps you reach the same standard, stage, or level as others, usually after you have missed something such as lessons or opportunities to practise: These companies have a lot of catch-up 追赶 to do, and whole product lines to replace with modern technology. This is a much needed catch-up after years of underinvestment. If there is a shortfall, you may be required to make hefty catch-up payments 补缴. catch-up classes/sessions 补课. play catch-up to try to reach the same standard, stage, or level as others after you have fallen behind them. the activity of trying to do as well as a competitor or of trying to reach a level of achievement: Having started his fund-raising late, he had to play catch-up 使劲追赶 if he wanted to get enough money for his political campaign. They raced ahead into new markets, leaving other companies to play catch-up 后边追赶, 你追我赶. catch-up TV: You can watch it on catch-up. catch up to (something or someone) I. To make up the difference between oneself and someone or something, so as to be at an equal level, status, or point of progress. If we speed up, we might be able to catch up to the car ahead of us! You're going to have to study really hard to catch up to the rest of the class. Mona's the fastest girl in the class—you'll never even catch up to her in a race, let alone beat her. II. They must weigh up the risk of being caught on the run and the cost of what they must inevitably leave behind. For many, it's something they will ponder for years before finally finding the courage to act, motivated either because their lives have become intolerable or because the moment has simply caught up to them 时机忽然来临, 机会忽然来了, and there is no longer a choice. catch up with someone 带来麻烦, (坏事)纠缠住…, 给…带来麻烦, 惩罚 I. If something bad that you have done or that has been happening to you catches up with you, it begins to cause problems for you. To finally overtake (someone or something) after a long period of approaching (them or it). His years of drinking were catching up with him. His lies will catch up with him one day. II. If people in authority catch up with you, they discover that you have been doing something wrong and often punish you for it: They had been selling stolen cars for years before the police caught up with them. If you are caught up in something 陷入, 卷入, 混进, 混入, you are involved in it, usually unwillingly. The people themselves weren't part of the conflict; they were just caught up in it. Many people in the region, for reasons of poverty, get caught up in the drug trade. III. to communicate with someone by talking in person or on the phone or by exchanging messages, and learn or discuss what has been happening in their life: She spends hours on the phone, catching up with old friends. I must catch up with you some time. 6. pledge noun. I. a serious or formal promise, especially one to give money or to be a friend, or something that you give as a sign that you will keep a promise. a formal promise, or something that is given as a sign that you will keep a promise: a pledge of friendship. The telethon raised $150,000 in pledges for leukemia research. All the candidates have given/made pledges not to raise taxes if they are elected. Thousands of people made pledges (= promised to give money) to the charity campaign. I give you this ring as a pledge of my everlasting love for you. a pledge to do sth Analysts warn that OPEC's pledge to ramp up oil production in order to ease record crude prices will not have the desired effect. make/honour/sign a pledge Campaigners have accused Congress of failing to honour its US funding pledges. a pledge that sth Their goal of increasing electricity production from renewables by 40% has been reinforced by a pledge that they will not support further development of nuclear power. verb. I. to make a serious or formal promise to give or do something: We are asking people to pledge their support for our campaign. If you join the armed forces, you have to pledge allegiance to your country. So far, £50,000 has been pledged (= people have promised to pay this amount) in response to the appeal. Both sides have pledged to end the fighting. I've been pledged to secrecy. pledge to do sth The UK chief executive has pledged to slash costs by £150m a year by 2014. pledge $32m/£100,000, etc. to/for sth EU leaders pledged $1.2 billion to the region over the next 18 months. pledge that sth He pledged that a reduction in the burden of taxation will become the central economic objective of the government. II. to give something valuable to a person or organization that has lent you money, which they can keep if you fail to pay back the loan: pledge sth as collateral/security 扣押, 抵押, 抵扣, 担保 Shares are frequently pledged as collateral for loans. Some athletes are also forced to pledge property or money before they are allowed to travel, meaning that their families will be financially penalized if they choose not to return. something valuable that is given to a person or organization that has lent you money, which they can keep if you fail to pay back the loan: Serious financial irregularities took place, including the pledge of already paid-for securities.
Vladimir: 1. Oh, my friends, I'm so sorry. I had the wrong time 我搞错了时间. I can't believe it. We were just moving on. 2. Where does it (the class) meet? When does the class meet? Classes meet 上课 at their regular times, and we're able to attend as many (or as few) as we want. Students registered for the class meet, classes meet at 9 o'clock, classes convene at 9 o'clock. Class will meet in Room 222 = class will convene [kənˈviːn] in Room 222. 例子: How do you like her class? Professor Tong's class? Not a professor. It's like the highlight of my week. Like, she's so down to earth but also so brilliant. Yeah. You know? I mean, no one can compare to you. Oh no, I'm ecstatic to hear that. Where does it meet? 3. I wonder what domestic politics went into that text message. So what's this about? It's about growing up in Florida with Russian immigrant parents. So he's a navel-gazer(navel-gazer= navel gazer someone who spends too much time considering their own thoughts, feelings, or problems: He is not a navel-gazer, and doesn't spend time soul-searching and asking why. The overly sentimental and commercial style of writing is satisfying to almost no one beyond the navel gazers who write it.). No, it's excellent. I'm out 我出去了, 我出门了. Where are you going? I'm going to see my friend at Cornell. Think I'm gonna stay the night. Oh. What kind of friend? She's an expert in Title IX. Sid, I'm serious. I don't want you involved. I'm gonna take the Volvo. Be careful. Why'd you buy lettuce? I have a bumper crop. Because I need it as a wrap. I thought we were grilling. The steak is grilled. 4. What's happening here? It's my stupid wax. I'm inflamed 发炎的, 红肿的 (inflammation 炎症, 又称发炎, 炎症反应, 炎性反应)( I. (of strong feelings) provoked or intensified. "inflamed passions overrode reasoning". II. (of a part of the body) red or swollen as a result of inflammation. (of a part of the body) red, painful, and swollen, especially because of infection: an inflamed eye/toe. You should call the doctor if the area around the wound becomes inflamed. "inflamed eyes and lips".). It's fine. It's what I deserve. Why do you have this? It got mixed up 混在一起来, 混在我的邮件里 in my mail. Looks like a paycheck. Yes, I will give it to her when she arrives. Did you get rid of the deer netting? We're not hosting a wedding. It's suburban.
moral double vision 道德双标, moral outrage道德愤怒, moral clarity 爱憎分明, 忠奸分明, moral relativism, moral equivalence, moral position 道德姿态, 道德表态, moral elasticity 道德弹性: Moral double vision (Moral double vision refers to a cognitive or ethical state of holding contradictory moral viewpoints or applying different ethical standards simultaneously, often leading to inconsistency in judgment. It can manifest as selective moral outrage, where similar situations receive different levels of concern, or as the ability to see multiple, conflicting moral perspectives in literature, such as in Shakespearean drama.) as Australia heads to the Gulf: Australia claimed impotence 感觉无力, 无力感, 无能为力, 爱莫能助 over(lack of power to change or improve a situation. Impotence is a lack of power to influence people or events. ...a sense of impotence in the face of deplorable events. political impotence. a sense of impotence. impotent If someone feels impotent, they feel that they have no power to influence people or events. not having the power or ability to change or improve a situation: You feel so impotent when your child is ill and you cannot help them. The aggression of a bully leaves people feeling hurt, angry and impotent. In impotent rage he got up and stalked up and down the flat. ) Gaza but is now sending military support to the US-Israel war in the Gulf. Andrew Brown on the hypocrisy of a nation that prides itself on fairness. This week, Australia announced it would help defend the United Arab Emirates from Iranian attack. A Royal Australian Air Force Wedgetail surveillance aircraft is being sent to the Gulf along with personnel and advanced defensive capabilities as part of a broader effort to help protect regional airspace. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese framed the move as part of Australia's responsibility to support international stability. Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that Australia was considering requests from Gulf nations for assistance in defending themselves against Iranian missile and drone attacks. Suddenly, Australia can project power deep into the Middle East. Suddenly we can send aircraft. Suddenly, we can send missiles. Suddenly, we can speak in the language of security and moral clarity. And suddenly the Middle East is not so far away after all. Because for the past year, Australians were told something very different. When Gaza was being destroyed, the message from Canberra was that Australia is merely a "middle power." The conflict was distant. Complex. Beyond our ability to influence. There was little we could do. Restraint became the official moral position. The government said it. The opposition echoed it. Large sections of the media repeated it. Anyone who argued that Australia should speak more forcefully 强硬, 强势 about what was happening in Gaza was treated as naïve or ideological. The country was told that moral outrage 道义上的愤怒 had to be tempered by realism. But while Australia practised this restraint, Gaza was being erased in real time. And amid the chaos came the reports that chilled even hardened 心硬如铁 war correspondents. Doctors describing children arriving in emergency rooms with gunshot wounds to the head or chest. Small bodies carried through shattered hospital corridors after sniper rounds tore through them in the streets. This was not propaganda. These were the testimonies of doctors, humanitarian workers and journalists on the ground. And how did Australia respond? With caution. For months, the political class repeated the same carefully constructed 精心构造, 精心编织 argument. The situation was complicated. Australia had limited influence. Strong action would achieve little. Better to remain balanced. Better to remain restrained. The government hid behind diplomatic language. The opposition, particularly the louder voices inside the Liberal and National parties, went further. They condemned protests, dismissed criticism of Israel as extremist and opposed humanitarian pathways for Palestinians fleeing the destruction. In some cases, the rhetoric 措辞, 用词 became openly hostile. Palestinian suffering was treated as a political inconvenience rather than a humanitarian catastrophe. And much of the media followed suit. Coverage of Gaza was often framed through the language of "complexity" and "balance." Israeli security concerns were explored in depth, while Palestinian deaths were frequently reduced to statistics buried deep in reports. Calls for sanctions or stronger diplomatic pressure were portrayed as radical or irresponsible. Restraint became the narrative. But now Australian aircraft are heading to the Gulf. Now Australia can defend airspace thousands of kilometres away. Now the Middle East is suddenly within our strategic reach. It is difficult to imagine a clearer example of moral elasticity 道德弹性. Yet the hypocrisy does not end there. At the same time, Australia has moved quickly to offer protection to members of the Iranian women's football team seeking asylum abroad. Several athletes have been granted humanitarian visas and welcomed with words of sympathy and concern. And in principle, that is exactly the right response. People fleeing repression deserve protection. But the contrast with Gaza is impossible to ignore. When Palestinian families sought refuge from bombardment and starvation, the tone from Canberra was very different. Politicians warned about security risks. The opposition condemned proposals for humanitarian visas. Sections of the media amplified fears about migration. Compassion was suddenly conditional. The same political voices now urging protection for Iranian athletes were among the loudest critics of offering refuge to Palestinians fleeing bombs and famine. Apparently, some victims deserve asylum. Others deserve suspicion. And the media cannot pretend innocence in this performance. When Iranian repression or attacks on Gulf states dominate the headlines, the language of moral clarity suddenly returns. Victims are humanised. Outrage is expressed. The responsibility of democratic nations to respond is emphasised. Hierarchy of suffering: But when Palestinian civilians were buried beneath rubble, when hospitals collapsed and children starved, the dominant tone was caution. One conflict is analysed with restraint. The other with urgency. Together, the political class and large parts of the media construct a quiet hierarchy 鄙视链, 歧视链, 生物链 of suffering. Some lives command outrage. Others barely command attention. And that raises an uncomfortable question for a country that prides itself on fairness. Australia loves to imagine itself as egalitarian. The land of the fair go. A nation that instinctively sides with the underdog. But myths have a habit of collapsing when they collide with reality. And the reality is this: When Gaza's children were starving, when hospitals were collapsing, when entire families were buried beneath rubble, Australia did not speak with moral clarity; Australia spoke with caution. When Gulf allies asked for military assistance and Iranian athletes sought asylum, suddenly, the language of principle returned, and Australia found its voice. The truth is painfully simple. Canberra was never powerless; it was simply selective. And when compassion appears only when it suits our alliances, our politics or our convenience, it stops being compassion at all. Instead, it becomes theatre.
Moral clarity 爱憎分明, 忠奸分明, 明辨是非: Moral clarity is the ability to perceive, judge, and act upon ethical situations with precision, distinguishing right from wrong without ambiguity. It involves recognizing objective facts, such as identifying injustices, and maintaining consistent, firm principles rather than relying on moral relativism. It's a capacity to make firm distinctions without hesitations or much thought between evil and good, and to take action based on those distinctions. a catchphrase associated with American political conservatives. Those that make a claim of moral clarity are suggesting that they are Good and that their enemies are Evil. It follows, historically, that all actions are justified in order to combat said Evil. Popularized by William J. Bennett's Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism, the phrase was first used in its current context during the 1980s, in reference to the politics of Ronald Reagan.
Moral clarity encodes a complex political argument that includes all of the following claims: 1. The war on terrorism, like some previous wars involving the United States (particularly World War II and the Cold War), is a conflict between good and evil 正义和邪恶. 2. Traditional American values like democracy and freedom are universal human rights, worth promoting and defending through military intervention. 3. Attempts to understand or explain the actions of anti-Western terrorists as justifiable responses to actions of the United States or Israel are a sign of moral weakness at best, and sympathy for the terrorists at worst, and will hamper efforts to defeat them. 4. Though the actions of the United States and its allies may lead to civilian deaths or other forms of collateral damage, may require the use of means such as torture that would be condemned in other contexts, and may involve temporary alliances with undemocratic regimes, these actions are justified by the greater moral necessity of defeating terrorism and thus promoting American values and ensuring long-term U.S. security. 5. Opponents of action against terrorists are guilty of promoting moral relativism or moral equivalence, in which the allegedly similar means of both anti-terrorists and terrorists are used to blur the moral differences between good and evil.
Moral relativism or ethical relativism 道德相对主义 (often reformulated as relativist ethics or relativist morality) is used to describe several philosophical positions concerned with the differences in moral judgments across different peoples and cultures. An advocate of such ideas is often referred to as a relativist. Moral relativism is the metaethical view that moral judgments are not objectively true or universal, but rather relative to social, cultural, or individual contexts. It posits that no single moral code holds a superior status over another, with right and wrong varying based on perspective, time, and culture. It denies the existence of absolute, objective moral facts, opposing moral objectivism/absolutism. Cultural relativism asserts morality is determined by a society's traditions and customs, while individual (or subjectivist) relativism claims it is based on personal, subjective opinions. Supporters often point to the wide variation in moral values across different cultures and eras to argue against universal standards. Critics argue that it cannot account for moral progress (e.g., abolishing slavery), leads to the absurdity that all cultural practices are equally valid, and is self-contradictory if it tries to impose a "universal" rule of tolerance.
Moral equivalence 一碗水端平, 各打五十大板 is a term used in political debate, usually to deny that a moral comparison can be made of two sides in a conflict, or in the actions or tactics of two sides. Moral equivalence is an informal fallacy or political argument suggesting that two sides in a conflict, or two distinct actions, bear equal blame or hold the same moral weight. It is often used to create a "false balance" or as "whataboutism," reducing complex situations to a simplistic, comparable, or justifiable wrongdoing. It is often used to argue that one side in a conflict is not significantly better or worse than the other, or to justify one side's actions by pointing to the faults of the other. This occurs when two different actions are treated as having the same moral significance, ignoring differences in intent, scale, or context. The term is frequently used as a criticism, suggesting that the person drawing the comparison is failing to recognize a clear moral difference (e.g., in a conflict between a democracy and a terrorist organization). The term had some currency in polemic debates ( polemic [pəˈlɛmɪk] noun. I. 讨伐文. 驳论. 批驳文. 反驳文. 檄文. 口诛笔伐. a speech or piece of writing expressing a strongly critical attack on or controversial opinion about someone or something. A polemic is a very strong written or spoken attack on, or defence of, a particular belief or opinion. "his polemic against the cultural relativism of the Sixties". II. Polemics is the skill or practice of arguing very strongly for or against a belief or opinion. He enjoys polemics, persuasion, and controversy. adj. polemical. expressing or constituting a strongly critical attack on or controversial opinion about someone or something; "unashamedly polemic writing". ) about the Cold War. "Moral equivalence" began to be used as a polemic term-of-retort to "moral relativism", which had been gaining use as an indictment against political foreign policy that appeared to use only a situation-based application of widely held ethical standards. International conflicts are sometimes viewed similarly, and interested parties periodically urge both sides to conduct a ceasefire and negotiate their differences. However these negotiations may prove difficult in that both parties in a conflict believe that they are morally superior to the other, and are unwilling to negotiate on basis of moral equivalence. 反对者认为: For opponents of the notion of "moral clarity", dividing the world into good and evil does not lend itself to a workable foreign policy. For example, if Iraq was invaded for reasons of "moral clarity", it follows that other "rogue states" (like North Korea) would also be similarly attacked. This apparent contradiction is used to argue that proponents of "moral clarity" are guilty of hypocrisy or special pleading, and that the slogan moral clarity masks less exalted reasons ( [ɪɡˈzɔːltɪd,] adj. I. 更高级别的. 更高阶的. (of a person or their rank or status) at a high or powerful level. An exalted position in an organization is a very important one: She rose to the exalted post of Foreign Secretary. "it had taken her years of infighting to reach her present exalted rank". II. in a state of extreme happiness. extremely happy "I felt exalted and newly alive". ) for military intervention, particularly economic motives. Critics also argue that "moral clarity" promotes a dangerous view expressed in the famous phrase "My country, right or wrong". The idea that the United States is always "good" is actually an argument of moral relativism, they say, since it makes no distinction between right and wrong actions. Furthermore, it is argued that "moral clarity" is used to discredit those who want to hold the United States to a higher moral standard than "My country, right or wrong", a standard expressed by U.S. Brigadier General Carl Schurz: "Our country right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be put right.".
