 What is a Good Person?
by Joseph Rowlands
The most common view of morality is that it is a way of testing or proving that you are a good person. But what exactly does that mean? What quality or qualities define a good person?
... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (1 message)
Endorsement or Prediction
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the most important features of a morality of rational self-interest is the idea that there is no fundamental conflict of interest between people. Instead of being stuck in a world where one man's gain is another man's loss, we live in a world where both parties can win through mutually beneficial trades. Opportu... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (1 message)
Parenting with Intrinsic Values
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the hallmarks of intrinsic values is that they make rational tradeoffs impossible. Intrinsic values don't share the same standard of evaluation as other values. If you value something as a value in itself, there's no way to say how much more or less important it is to other possible values. If you raise or lower... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
The Foundations of Esthetics
by Joseph Rowlands
A topic that comes up fairly often is the relationship between the 5 recognized branches of philosophy. This include metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and esthetics. And this is the order in which these topics are often discussed, at least when esthetics is discussed at all. Does this imply a logical order? ... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
Group Identity
by Joseph Rowlands
Collectivism describes a relationship between individuals and groups. It views individuals as merely members of a group, defined by the group, and viewed in relation to the group. A nationalist collectivist would see his nation as the defining element, and would see citizens of that nation as important only in relation... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (3 messages)
Goal-Directed Learning
by Joseph Rowlands
In the engineering world, it is common for people to say that they learned more in the first few months of a new job than they did in years of college. We could quibble about whether they would be in a position to learn as much as they do if they didn't have years of schooling behind them, but there's an important insi... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (3 messages)
Appeasing The Mobs
by Joseph Rowlands
Defenders of redistribution of wealth often fall back on an argument allegedly based on self-interest. The argument is that if we don't fork over money to the poor, they will rise up and kill us all. What starts as a defense of altruism and egalitarianism ends up an argument based on extortion and violence. Your money ... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (3 messages)
Common Sense
by Joseph Rowlands
What is common sense? It is a widely used phrase that has a vague meaning. It is generally taken to mean a way of thinking or judging that is so elementary that almost anyone can be expected to follow it. It's not quite the same as 'obvious', but is expected to be so easily reproduced that it requires no deep justifica... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
Can You Change The World?
by Joseph Rowlands
Occasionally I'll talk to someone who's interested in Objectivist or libertarian idea. Some of these exchanges span weeks or months. A number of times we've gotten to the point in the discussion where they start feeling depressed about the state of the world. They'll say something like "What's the point? It's not like ... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (5 messages)
Moral Cowardice
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the most interesting aspects of modern morality is how far people are willing to go to pretend that evil doesn't exist. In a different article, I wrote about the word 'threat' and its many uses. The word is often narrowly used in order to avoid calling something a threat. If a country says they will kill any and... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (8 messages)
Moral Conundrums
by Joseph Rowlands
It is possible for a moral system to self-contradict. This can happen when multiple values are accepted as intrinsic, or when certain methods are treated as always necessary or always immoral. These can lead to contradictions because the values or methods can conflict with one another. If you think you think you should... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
Measuring Costs
by Joseph Rowlands
There are different ways of measuring costs. A business might measure costs in terms of the money expended in the process of production. Economists may talk about opportunity cost, pointing out that if picking an inferior option is a cost in itself since you could have done better. How are these costs measured? And wha... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (3 messages)
Moral Intentions
by Joseph Rowlands
Altruists are usually focused on how much they care about other people. When moral praise is offered, it is when someone prove how much they care by sacrificing their own interests for the sake of others. Moral contempt is sometimes expressed by accusing someone of not caring about other people.
... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
Close-Minded
by Joseph Rowlands
If you learn nothing else about false dichotomies, you should learn that awful ideas often survive because people believe the only alternative is worse. In response to the idea that you should be committed to your moral ideas no matter how destructive they are, people choose to not hold ideals. In response to the idea ... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
Moral Pride
by Joseph Rowlands
I reject the idea that the purpose of morality is to prove that you are a good person. It's circular, and nonsensical. Morality is a method. It allows you to evaluate options and choose between them. It is religious morality that converted morality into a test, where the goal is to achieve status and prove what a good ... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (1 message)
Redemption
by Joseph Rowlands
Atonement and redemption are two of the features of Christianity that inspires people the most. They provide a method for those who have acted poorly or worse to not only turn their lives around, but to make up for their past actions. Most people have past choices they wish they could take back. Atonement provides a me... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (1 message)
Pride From Beliefs
by Joseph Rowlands
A common problem among ideological people is to take their beliefs as a source of pride in their lives. They think that simply holding the beliefs makes them a better person, or superior to others. And with that view, they become defensive when their beliefs are challenged. Objectivists are no exception.
... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (1 message)
 Productive Understanding
by Joseph Rowlands
I find that often when people are trying to understand an idea, they aren't taking it very seriously. Perhaps its how they learned in school, where the point was to retain enough to select an appropriate answer on a test. There is no attempt to get a deep understanding. They seem to aim for a superficial understanding.... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (1 message)
A Room Full of Altruists
by Joseph Rowlands
Imagine there were two rooms full of people talking about morality. All of the people in the first room were committed altruists. In the second room, each person rejected altruism and promoted rational self-interest. Now coincidentally in both rooms, they were talking about morality. And not only were they talking abou... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (2 messages)
Wednesday
January 20, 2016 |
Something Bigger Than Yourself
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the selling points of religion or big government is the idea that if you sign up and support them, you will be joining something bigger than yourself. Why is that a good thing? Why is it attractive to people?
... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (9 messages)
Government Holding Kids Hostage
by Joseph Rowlands
The state of California is once again having budget problems. It is spending far more money than it can extort through taxes. Instead of cutting spending, politicians have announced that without higher taxes, they will be forced to cut spending to public schools. "Your money, or your children's future!" (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (2 messages)
Understanding Empiricism
by Joseph Rowlands
Empiricism, when defined, sounds somewhat reasonable. It suggests all of our knowledge comes from perceptual data. Seemingly, this is a rejection of a priori knowledge, or divine revelation, or any other form of knowledge disconnected from perception. And if that's all it was, it would be perfectly reasonable.
... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (0 messages)
Why Justice is Good
by Joseph Rowlands
If someone hurts you, it's natural to wish that they would suffer in return. Unfortunately, many people are dismissive of this inclination. They call it revenge, treat as an animalistic tendency that humans should overcome and be ashamed of, and sometimes even refer to it as blood lust, as if it were a demand for viole... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (2 messages)
Teaching to Share
by Joseph Rowlands
One of the things that parents often do is force their children to share their toys with other children. Sometimes it is their own children, and sometime other people's children. There are many excuses given for it. One couple points out that the older child hasn't played with those toys in months or years, and is only... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (5 messages)
Wednesday
December 2, 2015 |
Voter Motivation
by Joseph Rowlands
Occasionally people will describe to me why they think people vote for certain candidates and policies. A popular notion is that the leftist politicians have widespread support among welfare recipients and others who are trying to get free money. And the corresponding belief is that conservatives are supported by peopl... (Read more...)
Discuss this Article (5 messages)
|
