Edward Feser: Curiosity damned the cat
"One of the best contemporary writers on philosophy" National Review "A terrific writer" Damian Thompson, Daily Telegraph "Feser... has the rare and enviable gift of making philosophical argument compulsively readable" Sir Anthony Kenny, Times Literary Supplement Selected for the First Things list of the 50 Best Blogs of 2010 (November 19, 2010)
In what cases might the pursuit of knowledge be disordered? Perhaps the most obvious case is when one’s aim in acquiring knowledge is to facilitate evildoing. If doing X is morally wrong, and you are trying to learn about Y for the sake of enabling you to do X, then your pursuit of knowledge about Y is wrong. Of course, that leaves it open that pursuing such knowledge for some other reason might be legitimate. (For example, if you are doing research on firearms because you are trying to figure out how to commit a certain crime, then you are doing something wrong. But if you are doing such research because you are trying to figure out how to defend yourself against criminals, then you are not necessarily doing something wrong.)
The easy access to information afforded by the internet has opened the door to unprecedented occasions for this particular kind of curiosity. Knowledge relevant to carrying out identity theft, finding partners for illicit sexual encounters, organizing a riot, doxing political enemies, and other immoral activities is just a few clicks away.
