tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post4569202181344112990..comments2023-10-24T04:29:23.693-06:00Comments on Atheist Ethicist: Discussion: Susan Neiman's Science and MoralityAlonzo Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-80306156558126256442007-03-25T00:38:00.000-06:002007-03-25T00:38:00.000-06:00Isn't it also a fact that telling the child tortur...Isn't it also a fact that telling the child torturer facts about how other people feel about his desires might change those desires? I am worried about the fundamental individualism of this post. Granted, you talk about people trying to change other people's behavior, but that is an individual-against-individual situation. The child torturer might indeed desire to torture, but he invariably also desires to please other people and to fit in to society.<BR/><BR/>People can be directly influenced by (facts about) what other people think of them. These facts (knowing that, say, mother does not approve) can change their actual emotional makeup and make them desire something else. We needn't assume that people are emotional islands that can only be forcefully changed from the outside. People are also hard-wired to care about what others say and think. We do, after all, usually feel bad about being upbraided.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com