An obligation is an action one owes one or more other people. When one fulfills an obligation one does something good but not all good actions are obligations. Some actions are supererogatory, they go above and beyond obligation. I am obliged to pay taxes but I am not obliged to donate money to charity. Both actions are good but the latter is a supererogatory action. The moral status of an action depends on whether the action is an obligation. Failure to perform an obligatory action is wrong. The value of an action does not so depend. An action can be good even if it is not obligatory. It is good…
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If Materialism is True, Then Everything Stinks
There is a difference between being materialistic and being a materialist. If you are materialistic, you value material things above non-material things. By materialism I don’t mean the valuing of material things. What I mean is the view that there is nothing that exists that is immaterial. A material thing is some entity which is possible to experience. Some material things are so small you can’t see them, but it would be possible to experience them if one’s senses were adequate or if the thing in question was bigger. Of course, if you are a materialist, then you will very likely be materialistic. That’s all there is, after all. What…
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How to Prevent Facebook Becoming a Bar Brawl
There is a rumor going around that it is not possible to have a civil debate on social media. While there is certainly some truth to this at this juncture in our history, it seems odd to think that one media is the kind of media that renders arguments and discourse powerless. Surely, an argument is as good on Facebook as it is on a printed page. There is no reason to think a person cannot reasonably talk to other people on Facebook and think rationally about some issue and all the while restrain their temper. We have managed this for years in all sorts of formats. Telling ourselves that…
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Presuppositions and Public Discourse
When my students get a Latin test they make mistakes because they attempt to translate sentences according to what they think I would say. For instance, consider the following sentence: vīnum virōs cōservat The English translation is: wine preserves men However, nearly everyone in the class translated the sentence as: the men preserve the wine What explains the mistake? Presuppositions. Given that most of them know their Latin endings, they should be able to work out that ‘wine’ is a nominative singular and ‘men’ is accusative plural. It seems that the most likely explanation for their mistake is a presupposition. A presupposition in interpreting speech or writing is what we…
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How To Tell What People Want
In a free market with multiple businesses and good economic conditions most people can get what they want even if they don’t get every thing they want. If you like stainless steel appliances, it’s easy (lots of people want them), but even if you want pink appliances you can get them. That’s how a free market works. Choice tends to increase over time as economies and demand grows. The important point to note is that if someone has pink appliances, it is likely that they wanted them. In other words, in a free market economy you can often tell what someone wants from what they in fact have. However, what…
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On Meaningless Waffle
Waffle is speech or writing that appears thoughtful at first glance, but has no discernible content. The New Civics Statement is waffle: The New Civics initiative starts with the assumption that a central aim of civic education is to prepare young people to act with civic purpose and to do so effectively and with good judgment. Like others, we presume that individuals must be educated for citizenship and that schools have a historic mandate to develop young people’s knowledge, skills, and dispositions for responsible citizenship. At the same time, we expand the scope of civic learning for civic action beyond the school; as community organizations, political parties, and many other groups…
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Pronoun Paradox
If I told you that my car was a Ferrari, you would say I was mistaken. You would probably take me outside to my driveway and point saying, “look! your car is a Saturn Vue.” If I replied, “no, it is a Ferrari,” you would think that something had gone very wrong. You might point again and say “but can’t you see? Just look at that white car over there! It looks nothing like a Ferrari.” “White car?” I reply. “But that car is red. And it is a Ferrari.” Now you are clear: Ben has lost his mind. Let’s assume I have not lost my mind, that I am…
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HQ Awards: Fallacy of the Year
Anne: “I oppose X” George: “You only oppose X because you are a Y” A: “No, I oppose X because of reasons A, B, and C.” G: “You only think A, B, and C because you are a Y.” A: “No, I really think A, B, and C are true.” G: “You wouldn’t oppose X if you were a Z” A: “Maybe, but A, B, and C would still be true if I was a Z and so I ought to oppose X even if I didn’t” G: “But if you were a Z how would you know about A, B, and C?” A: “Someone would have to tell me about A, B, and C. This is what I am trying…