tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post8650472374009940533..comments2023-10-24T04:29:23.693-06:00Comments on Atheist Ethicist: The Nonidentity ProblemAlonzo Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-51170377380353291922013-07-22T20:22:48.162-06:002013-07-22T20:22:48.162-06:00It's been a while I know, but I'm going to...It's been a while I know, but I'm going to jump right in.<br /><br />This: "One of the major uses of moral language is to mold the desires of those around us."<br /><br />Why must we talk in good versus evil? "Our moral intuitions... the mother should wait... She has done something wrong if she does not do so." Why not good versus better?<br /><br />Perhaps I'm alone in moralising that the ethicist OUGHT to re-frame such imagined) moral dilemmas as a chance to better" our black-and-white thinking.<br /><br />Most moralisers MIGHT reason the source of their moral intuition is "feel sorry for the injured baby... [claiming] good reason to praise and condemn the woman for her actions". Yet I would posit that moralisers are more similar to myself (though yes I'm wary that's a famous bias of brains) -- I feel myself reasoning from inside the woman's current shoes and certainly NOT the unborn's future mind.<br /><br />In summary,<br />- MORAL LANGUAGE pretends our strong feelings bubble up from clever thoughts (really, vice versa)<br />- ETHISTS can do better than play into our default bias towards black-and-white moral language<br />- EMPATHY is (by default) a loyalty to (imagined) similar minds<br /><br />Care to comment/correct?<br /><br />Apologies in advance I've I'm working outside the framework of your blog, Mr Alonzo Fyfe... I suppose I cannot help but moralise & bounce my ideas off you all, the safely like-minded :)@blamerhttp://twitter.com/blamernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-39862157036319548982013-05-24T18:33:36.710-06:002013-05-24T18:33:36.710-06:00I should add that, even where it is possible to pr...I should add that, even where it is possible to promote certain distinctions in people's desires, there is a question of whether or not it is worthwhile to do so.<br /><br />In this case, we may be able to cause people to have an affective distinction between women who choose sickly children over healthy children in this world and an imaginary woman alone on an imaginary world.<br /><br />But what "reasons for action" exist for going through this effort? We have more of a reason to leave this affective distinction blurred and focus on areas where affective distinctions have important real-world consequences.Alonzo Fyfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-61191411046438197772013-05-24T16:17:50.914-06:002013-05-24T16:17:50.914-06:00Kuroneko - that seems accurate.
The main issue is...Kuroneko - that seems accurate.<br /><br />The main issue is that we cannot fine tune desires and aversions precisely. We cannot learn to like peas at 3:00 and intensely dislike them at 3:01.<br /><br />An indifference towards a woman having a sickly child on a world where she is alone risks creating an indifference that we have reason not to promote in this world.<br /><br />If we could precisely tune our indifference to that world we would have no reason to promote an aversion.Alonzo Fyfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-44088692399626425862013-05-24T15:56:38.163-06:002013-05-24T15:56:38.163-06:00@Peter,
These are reasons such as our desires for...@Peter,<br /><br />These are reasons such as our desires for healthy contributors to society rather than dependent, needy people. These desires aren't inherent, so if the woman lived in a world all on her own, there would be no one else to say that her decision was "wrong". However, <i>we</i> condemn the woman's choice because of <i>our</i> desires.<br /><br />@Mr. Fyfe, I hope I interpreted this the way you meant. Please correct me if I'm wrong.Kuroneko (Aaron Zeng)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02344283356103206046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-86020514678330186222013-05-24T14:59:12.711-06:002013-05-24T14:59:12.711-06:00"Instead, we have any and strong reasons to p..."Instead, we have any and strong reasons to promote an aversion to the woman's choice - to praise those who have such an aversion and to condemn those who do not - among fellow humans in the here and now."<br /><br />What reasons are those?Peter Hurfordhttp://www.everydayutilitarian.comnoreply@blogger.com