Putting the soft in soft science
I’m currently working on another piece about telescopic morality. Before writing it, I thought it’d be a good idea to review what I’ve written previously and all the responses to them that I’m aware of. It’s been a very lively discussion, with many humbling critiques. Many of the conceptual problems that people pointed out nearly …
Tonight I encountered another critique of my formulation of telescopic morality. The original piece I wrote at the Umlaut resonated with a surprising number of people, as did the subsequent followups. They also have drawn a fair amount of criticism. I want to start by making sure I’ve given credit where it’s due—the formulation began …
Continue reading Between Callousness and Telescopic Morality
Adam has been mighty preachy lately. Now we are all to blame, as he puts it, “Morality is not a guide for living a blameless life. It is not a method for keeping your hands unsoiled by culpability.” Thus the malady. Later, the means: “Above all, [acceptance] is seeing everyone as well as yourself for their …
Patrick’s post is probably my favorite defense of telescopic morality in the ongoing conversation on the subject. Like most of those defenses, he focused almost entirely on charitable giving. I think most people would be surprised to learn that charitable giving was not really what I had in mind when I wrote the first piece …
This is my first post here, so let me begin in the manner in which I hope to continue: with some backhanded praise. Adam Gurri’s concept and critique of “telescopic morality” is a fantastic rhetorical flourish. It evokes the idea of a moral trompe l’oeil, a trick in which we erroneously transmute distant moral concerns …
The caller who sicced the cops on Sureshbhai Patel probably didn’t know what the result of his action was going to be. Cowards don’t usually think through the consequences of their chickenshit actions. Instead of taking the time to learn who his neighbors are, risking coming into contact with a stranger, the chickenshit coward decided …
Continue reading Cowardice, Sausage-Making, and Public-Mindedness
I have not one, but two fellow Sweet Talkers who want me to believe that the political system just is lies and violence. Here’s Sam: When I say that the lies and the violence ARE the system, I mean simply that as long as there are rewards to being cunning or wicked, there will be cunning, …
The bleeding heart libertarian starts out with some moral ends in mind. That forces that sort of libertarianism into a politically activist position with regard to reform. I eschew that approach, considering all reform to be destined to failure. Feel free to disagree, but keep in mind that the victims of successful reforms are unobservable. …
James Buchanan won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for his work on specifying models of good government. He was a relentless champion of the power of constitutions to constrain the ambitions of the sovereign. I would desperately like to agree with him, but I have a difficult time accepting the proposition that the US …
Continue reading Community and Diffusion: Two Ways of Thinking About Influence
I’m going to step out of character for a moment here—at least out of my anti-telescopic morality character. To an extent. Recently our very own Sam Wilson wrote the following: The violence and the lies are not part of the system. The violence and the lies ARE the system. The context does not matter. Sam …
