Full Idea
Unconditional commitments are the most basic convictions we have. They tell us what we must not do no matter what, what we regard as outrageous, horrible, beyond the pale, or, in religious language, as sacrilegious.
Gist of Idea
Unconditional commitments are our most basic convictions, saying what must never be done
Source
John Kekes (The Human Condition [2010], 03.3)
Book Reference
Kekes,John: 'The Human Condition' [OUP 2010], p.57
A Reaction
The Aztecs should have made rather different unconditional commitments from the ones they ended up with. How do you persuade someone to make such an unconditional commitment. Abortion seems to involve huge clashes here.
Related Idea
Idea 23400 Righteousness is extending the unthinkable, to reveal what must be done [Mengzi (Mencius)]