tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post1417060938285168079..comments2023-12-31T03:18:37.403-06:00Comments on "E pur si muove!": Would Jesus be a Liberal Democrat?Lester Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-39765431064895963972011-01-01T12:00:20.441-06:002011-01-01T12:00:20.441-06:00As to your first point, that conservatives think ...As to your first point, that conservatives think that people who vote liberal are ipso facto immoral:<br /><br />I think it depends on what kind of conservative they are. If they are the sort that says "socialism is a fine ideal in theory, but it doesn't work in practice," if they vote against welfare state policies simply because they have undesirable consequences in the future, consequences the other side doesn't understand or a appreciate -- if that's what they think, then they are thinking that folks on the other side are not knaves but fools. They think they are committing a factual error, not moral error. They think that their own voting behavior show a superior understanding of how the world works, not superior moral character.Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-22580637881642752972011-01-01T11:43:50.051-06:002011-01-01T11:43:50.051-06:00I posted about the Communism-or-Nazism issue here:...I posted about the Communism-or-Nazism issue here:<br /><br />http://lesterhhunt.blogspot.com/2009/11/nazism-or-communism-which-is-more-evil.htmlLester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-68972368564637470262011-01-01T11:42:31.817-06:002011-01-01T11:42:31.817-06:00This is not a straw man argument because I was not...This is not a straw man argument because I was not arguing against the position, I was only trying to explain it. The explanandum (thing to be explained), furthermore, is not leftists "justifying" Stalin: rather it was their thinking he was less evil than Hitler (though he killed a lot more people). My explanation: they think that at least he had good intentions.<br /><br />I think it is beyond dispute that a lot of people on the left think Communism was less evil than Nazism. I am reminded of this every time I see look out into a classroom full of students and see people wearing "cool" symbols of Communism on their clothing and headgear. Can you imagine university students wearing "cool" swastikas? Me neither. Che T-shirts, yes. Horst Wessel T-shirts, no.Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-77693261572323383552010-12-31T21:21:23.670-06:002010-12-31T21:21:23.670-06:00Stalin may have murdered millions, but at least he...Stalin may have murdered millions, but at least he presided over a state that gave free medical care to those it did not kill. (The same thing is true of Hitler, but nevermind that.)<br /><br />Question: could you name one liberal, living or dead, who justified Stalin's killing because he offered national health care? If you can't (as I suspect you can't), I have a follow-up question: how does a philisophy professor justify using a strawman argument? Would you let your students get away with such flimsy reasoning?Jack Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00754478383616647932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-80226030866983740972010-12-31T21:06:27.128-06:002010-12-31T21:06:27.128-06:00I think there are a significant number of liberals...I think there are a significant number of liberals who believe the Colbert thesis: that simply voting a certain way and having certain opinions makes them more virtuous than people who do otherwise.<br /><br />Well, yes, that's true,but trivial.If you replace "liberals" with "conservatives" it's also true. If u doubt me, ask my mom: she'll tell u voting Democratic is evil--those socialists don't believe in God.Jack Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00754478383616647932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-51399240692773506152010-12-22T12:48:04.247-06:002010-12-22T12:48:04.247-06:00Ah, that takes care of the epistemological problem...Ah, that takes care of the epistemological problem of socialism, but what about the ethical one? Would he sacrifice the good of some individuals to the good of the whole?Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-73194214961334737372010-12-21T21:02:20.812-06:002010-12-21T21:02:20.812-06:00Why would Jesus bother with liberal democracy? He...Why would Jesus bother with liberal democracy? He'd go full socialist: Ex hypothesi, he's omniscient, which avoids the socialist calculation problem.Aeon J. Skoblenoreply@blogger.com