No, it is not unsullied. That is, if the master is dishonored for doing something bad, not just having that label in the eyes of others because of politics gone wrong or something.
I can think of some possible exceptions, but even as I do, I don't think they count as examples of unsullied honor.
For example, medics on a battlefield who treat all sides. Maybe they are saving warlords who will go on to kill lots of others. I wouldn't say they are serving the warlords exactly because their service is to something else, perhaps to their Hippocratic oath. But even so, maybe they aren't unsullied by it.
If you live in a society where there is slavery, then you are not unsullied by it, even if you don't own a slave, because you buy goods that were produced by slave labour.
I feel like my own honour is sullied by the environmental destruction and cruelty that was involved in making the goods that I own. I don't even know what it was, or to what extent for each item. But there was some sort of destruction or cruelty involved in the production of most of the things I own. It is a problem with our society.
Defense attorneys seem to me slightly icky and sleazy for this reason too. I'm glad they exist, because the alternative is worse, but there are lawyers who get people who they know are guilty off on a technicality. I don't think I could do that and feel like my honour was unsullied.
I don't mean to say that you can never do something good for, or serve someone, who has done bad things in the past, especially if they have changed the way they do things. But if the person is actively doing bad things, or likely to do them again, then no, your honour will not be unsullied.
no subject
I can think of some possible exceptions, but even as I do, I don't think they count as examples of unsullied honor.
For example, medics on a battlefield who treat all sides. Maybe they are saving warlords who will go on to kill lots of others. I wouldn't say they are serving the warlords exactly because their service is to something else, perhaps to their Hippocratic oath. But even so, maybe they aren't unsullied by it.
If you live in a society where there is slavery, then you are not unsullied by it, even if you don't own a slave, because you buy goods that were produced by slave labour.
I feel like my own honour is sullied by the environmental destruction and cruelty that was involved in making the goods that I own. I don't even know what it was, or to what extent for each item. But there was some sort of destruction or cruelty involved in the production of most of the things I own. It is a problem with our society.
Defense attorneys seem to me slightly icky and sleazy for this reason too. I'm glad they exist, because the alternative is worse, but there are lawyers who get people who they know are guilty off on a technicality. I don't think I could do that and feel like my honour was unsullied.
I don't mean to say that you can never do something good for, or serve someone, who has done bad things in the past, especially if they have changed the way they do things. But if the person is actively doing bad things, or likely to do them again, then no, your honour will not be unsullied.