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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mlund" data-source="post: 4708182" data-attributes="member: 50304">The thing I've noticed with human applications of Deontology are that they don't actually disregard consequences. Rather, Deontology requires humans to believe that in the long term the outcome of adhering to an objective set of moral guidelines is a the best outcome.Meanwhile humans embracing Consequentialism run afoul of uncertainty, limited knowledge, and variables all the time. Presumptions can lead to some beneficial outcomes in the short-term, but the long term is impossible to extrapolate adequately. Case in point, Ozymandius's plan presumes a whole lot. It presumes that people would actually engage in a nuclear exchange without Dr. Manhattan. It also presumes that the outcome of the plan would result in a lasting, meaningful peace. These presumptions are monumental, hence the need for unsympathetic cardboard charicatures to be portrayed with their fingers on the button. There is also a great need for no character to voice any reasonable alternative to his plan and for Ozymandius to be taken seriously as the most intelligent man on the planet. He's essentially taking on the mantel of Hari Seldon out of Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy.But then there is the matter of Rorschach's journal, which highlights the potentially fatal flaw in such planning. In a very real way Rorshach is the Mule to Ozymandius's Seldon. His journal is only symbolic of the millions of variables that could make Ozymandius's plan fail to achieve its consequences.One thing to keep in mind with Rorschach is that he's not really fixated on how well people adhere to rules. We don't get a clear picture of what kind of rules he'd have everyone adhere to. Instead, Rorschach seems most concerned with the lack of Virtue in the world at large. His despair at this matter is what causes him to identify with the Comedian to a great extent. They see a hopeless world due to the lack of virtue in the populace. The Comedian, seeing the whole thing as a meaningless joke, gives allegiance to a form of Deontology relative to the government in exchange for what he wants. Rorschach, on the other hand, seems to embrace virtues he condemns others (and himself) for failing to measure up to while never getting what he wants.- Marty Lund</blockquote>

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