Lots of people
1) do things in computer role-playing games they wouldn’t actually do, for moral reasons (example: murdering a village full of innocents with magical fire)
2) do things in sexual fantasies they wouldn’t actually do, for moral reasons (example: asserting control over another human being through physical violence)
3) imagine things in their daily lives they [...]
A common argument is that feeling bad is a warning sign of moral error, without which you might not be aware something is wrong. This is often described as a “twinge of conscience” –
Imagine two individuals. One is a Dedicated Nazi, who is sure Jews are vermin. The other is a Conflicted Nazi, who has [...]
Lots of people say aspects of the war with Japan in WW2 were immoral.
Issues they raise include:
1. The United States provoked the attack.
2. The United States knew about the attack but didn’t take defensive actions in order to maximize casualties and civilian response.
3. The nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was immoral because killing innocent civilians [...]
Revision 1
People think certain traits are inherent, even when they cause harm.
Why? Sometimes genes are blamed. Sometimes no real explanation is put forth.
Examples: A person who eats to excess might blame genes. A person who has a temper, and knows this is bad, may say “that’s just the way I am.”
Sometimes people will deny that [...]
A form of argument I’ve commonly encountered when debating people on the morality of foreign intervention to promote democracy is the following:
“So, if you think Democracy is so great that it is worth initiating wars over, how can you justify putting pressure on / intervening against democracies when they vote for people you consider ‘bad’? [...]
The New York Times offers a book review of a Rand biographer in which they fundamentally misunderstand Rand’s vision of capitalism:
“When Bennett Cerf, a head of Random House, begged her to cut Galt’s speech, Rand replied with what Heller calls “a comment that became publishing legend”: “Would you cut the Bible?” …In fact, any editor certainly [...]