because of the impact of his work- I don't know if I could condemn him- sanitation and child labor laws are huge. but we can't justify his methods, or justify people like him in a modern context. Jacob Riis was also arguably racist- what if it was his racism that got codified into the legal system instead of child labor laws and sanitation? then he'd be viewed as evil, without any philosophical nuance. We can only start the conversation about justifying his methods as worth it after knowing how it all turned out- we shouldn't assume any contemporaries can justify lying today.
so we're left with a profiteering liar, who had a larger positive impact on the world than I can likely hope to have, and that's what makes his case so fascinating.
because of the impact of his work- I don't know if I could condemn him- sanitation and child labor laws are huge. but we can't justify his methods, or justify people like him in a modern context. Jacob Riis was also arguably racist- what if it was his racism that got codified into the legal system instead of child labor laws and sanitation? then he'd be viewed as evil, without any philosophical nuance. We can only start the conversation about justifying his methods as worth it after knowing how it all turned out- we shouldn't assume any contemporaries can justify lying today.
so we're left with a profiteering liar, who had a larger positive impact on the world than I can likely hope to have, and that's what makes his case so fascinating.