On Christmas Eve 2017, a property owner in Victoria had two large oak trees removed. Victorians immediately protested and sought to stop the tree removal. One Victorian, Doris Santiago, said, “These oak trees are an integral part of our history. And for them to do this the morning before Christmas, it’s morally wrong.” Such moral outrage is frequently a part of the political discourse today, but why is cutting down a tree on Christmas eve morally wrong?
To answer this question, we must consider the full context. We should not assume that an expression of moral indignation is proper and just. Moral outrage is founded on the speaker’s premises, and very often those premises remain unspoken and unidentified. If we wish to consider the full context, then we must identify the standards and principles that underlie the indignation, and then evaluate those standards and principles. Only then can we determine if the moral outrage is justified, or simply a tactic designed to disarm one’s opponents.
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