tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post7608411771627851452..comments2023-06-19T04:35:06.263-07:00Comments on Skeptic's Play: The moral horror that is ourselvesmillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-70926415276262017462015-01-21T14:36:08.193-08:002015-01-21T14:36:08.193-08:00(I'm not quoting, because it's a pain on m...(I'm not quoting, because it's a pain on my tablet)<br /><br />Yes, I see things in pragmatic and utilitarian terms, not to spare anything, but because I think that's the correct way to look at ethics. I don't like the "spare the poor weak humans" idea because it looks too much like religious apologetics. Also the idea of sparing seems condescending, paternalistic, and subordinating.<br /><br />I try not to complain, per se (but that interpretation is warranted), about people being "cast out"; rather, I want to bring the issue into conscious focus.<br /><br />I think it makes sense to be resistant to new ideas; that's the essence of skepticism, n'est ce pas?millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-5012594829823670822015-01-21T14:24:27.382-08:002015-01-21T14:24:27.382-08:00My own question was rhetorical. :-)My own question was rhetorical. :-)millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-3631905530220274102015-01-21T09:48:52.859-08:002015-01-21T09:48:52.859-08:00Further comment: I think it's notable that you...Further comment: I think it's notable that you don't think it is worth it just to give our psyches a break, but you do in fact see the problems in pragmatist/utilitarian terms, and end up avoid most of the moral horror.<br /><br /><br />I think a lot of people do see these problems in deontological terms, and a lot of people take hard stances about moral blame. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard you complain before about the way that people are too quickly "cast out" based on singular wrongdoing. Even associating with evil (if we see these things as evil) is uncomfortable. I think such people will be resistant to accepting new ideas about large-scale wrongs in society.<br /><br /><br /><br />In particular, I think *I* am resistant to accepting new ideas about what is wrong in society, although I seem to be fine with the ideas that I have already accepted. Naming the problem is helpful to me.millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-41637515491652964382015-01-21T08:08:35.233-08:002015-01-21T08:08:35.233-08:00I pose it as a question because I think this is a ...I pose it as a question because I think this is a valid answer.millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-47438573541711732942015-01-21T05:28:01.691-08:002015-01-21T05:28:01.691-08:00If it would give our poor psyches a break, should ...<i> If it would give our poor psyches a break, should we consciously adopt more utilitarian approaches to the big issues afflicting society?</i><br /><br /><br /><br />First, why should we give our poor psyches a break? We could just toughen up and do what we have to do. But as I noted before, the psychic harm is not from considering ourselves evil per se, but because to be blamed is to be subordinated. We have a lot of big problems to fix, which should be ennobling.millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9124539381685751273.post-82734318102075502062015-01-21T05:14:20.857-08:002015-01-21T05:14:20.857-08:00Though one of the philosophical critiques of utili...<i>Though one of the philosophical critiques of utilitarianism is that implies that all moral actions are obligatory, in practice it makes moral actions less black and white.</i><br /><br />Indeed. Utilitarianism would be all-obligation only with perfect information about all the consequences of every action. As you note, in practice, without perfect information, many actions are optional, because we can't distinguish between the effects of alternatives.<br /><br /><i>The fundamental problem with rape is that it is a violation of consent. This is, on the surface, a deontological argument. It is based on the intrinsic quality of rape as an action, rather than on the consequences.</i><br /><br />On the surface, perhaps. The deeper utilitarian argument is that this particular kind of violation of consent is wrong because it causes unacceptable suffering in the victim. Other kinds of violation of consent, such as forcing people to pay debts, we do not consider imposing unacceptable suffering, or, more precisely, we judge ameliorating the suffering of the creditor to be better than imposing the suffering of the debtor by forcing them to pay.millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.com