Here’s something that’s commonly said “I can see why they did that”. It carries a tone of excuse, or at least of lessening the harshness of a judgement. Does this fact tell us something?
If it carries meaning to say “I can see” why someone did something, presumably it’s possible that sometimes, indeed often, “I can’t see” that. And in such a case, we can only presume, our judgement will be harsher, our punishments more severe, without the soothing reconciliation of “I can see why”.
But if we “can’t see” why something was done, what does that mean? There are surely three explanations:
1) there was absolutely no reason: it was like a muscle spasm, an action without accompanying thought. Perhaps the person was sleepwalking?
2) we’re just not exercising our imaginative capacities enough, or our imagination is too weak.
3) there was a reason why something was done, but the logic used, or the person using it, was so alien to us, so totally different, that however hard we try we just won’t be able to understand it.
