Getting really tired of political arguments that are just about how (un)virtuous a particular faction is.
I truly don’t care how you feel about Democrats or Republicans or liberals or libertarians or conservatives or leftists or SJWs or MRAs or rationalists or feminists. If there’s a belief or pattern of behavior you want to discuss which is associated with a particular group, by all means talk about that. But if your thesis is ultimately about praising or condemning the group rather than saying something about the specific beliefs or behaviors, I usually won’t have any idea how to evaluate your claim or any good reason to try.
For example: If you say “There’s a common belief among libertarians that the prices set by a free market are the morally correct prices. I think that’s incorrect and harmful, and here’s why,” then great! We can discuss that idea, its philosophical basis, and its consequences. You might manage to convince someone who previously believed in it to change their mind. Someone might accuse you of attacking a strawman, but it should be easy enough to show that some people actually hold the belief you’re talking about.
On the other hand, if you say “Libertarianism is terrible because it claims that the prices set by a free market are the morally correct prices,” then you’re going to end up arguing about how many libertarians actually believe that, who actually counts as a libertarian, what beliefs are essential to “the libertarian worldview”, how someone’s actions might reveal a belief in a particular principle even if they don’t state that it’s true, etc. These discussions are difficult, contentious, and almost completely pointless. At best, they can change how someone chooses to label their beliefs. But how someone labels their beliefs is a lot less important than what they actually believe, and you’re not going to make any headway on the latter as long as you’re arguing about what counts as libertarianism.
(This was written with the assumption that when you debate, you’re attempting to change someone else’s mind –either your interlocutor’s or a third party’s– but it’s just as applicable if you’re trying to test and clarify your own opinions. If you have no hope of changing anyone’s view, even your own… I don’t want to tell you how to live your life, maybe what you’re doing is enjoyable and/or healthy for you. But please keep it away from me.)
slamming the reblog button until it breaks, etc.
(via exsecant)
3 months ago · tagged #nothing to add but tags · 208 notes · source: unknought · .permalink
liberiangirl85 liked this
goldenstar11 reblogged this from with-forward-motion- goldenstar11 liked this
with-forward-motion reblogged this from clatterbane
izzylobo reblogged this from lethriloth
ghostofasecretary reblogged this from lethriloth
lethriloth reblogged this from funereal-disease
not-a-lizard liked this
sweet-junkie-girl liked this
notraptor liked this
tentativelyassembled reblogged this from voximperatoris
ftmfeminist reblogged this from funereal-disease
contemporaryadultplumbing liked this
rangi42 liked this
pirozhok-s-kapustoj liked this
jack-rustier reblogged this from neoliberalism-nightly
osberend reblogged this from funereal-disease and added:Regretful counter-argument: A lot of people choose, if not all their beliefs, then at least very large swathes of them,...
elementsandelements liked this
pendulum-effect reblogged this from unknought
manic-pixie-meme-boy liked this
hollyhoppet said: THANK YOU
lithnin reblogged this from funereal-disease
bookwyrm42 reblogged this from earlgraytay
peachy-qeen liked this
faeline reblogged this from funereal-disease
jesterjokesfan liked this
goddygaudess reblogged this from mitoticcephalopod
inferentialdistance liked this
theicalife liked this
metagameface reblogged this from funereal-disease
dendroica liked this
laurentbelkacem liked this
resistive-capacitive reblogged this from funereal-disease
furniturebug liked this
guile-themed-url liked this
yxisg reblogged this from neoliberalism-nightly
dancing-around-strathclyde reblogged this from retro-geek- dancing-around-strathclyde liked this
blubberquark liked this
mitoticcephalopod reblogged this from funereal-disease
clatterbane reblogged this from earlgraytay
isaacsapphire liked this
nothingismoral liked this
retro-geek reblogged this from lenyberry
blueshiftinvariant liked this
lenyberry reblogged this from funereal-disease
earlgraytay reblogged this from funereal-disease- earlgraytay liked this
corpus-vak reblogged this from funereal-disease
gdanskcityofficial reblogged this from unknought- Show more notes