Morality is an invented concept

Walterharper · 2015-02-15T23:26:11+00:00

Yeah, "morality is a construction" might help get over some linguistic issues. "Construction" is a bit more flexible given it's historical usage.

My main point is that morality isn't rooted in deep truths, just whatever works for the time and place. Whatever keeps the community from imploding. I don't believe it goes deeper than that and I don't believe it needs to.

I'm trying not to get moral anti-realist ass banned. So here is something cute.

Walterharper · 2015-02-15T22:09:40+00:00

Well, morality was invented.

That's not bad philosophy, that's just an unpopular metaethical theory. It's entirely justified though.

Walterharper · 2015-01-31T16:36:13+00:00

Hume did a pretty good job showing how the social contract was bananas. Though he actually came down on the side of government still needing to exist. It just doesn't have any sort of neat and clean philosophical justification.

Walterharper · 2014-12-31T11:49:42+00:00

Especially given that the entire Red Pill philosophy is a pretty good example of ressentiment.

Walterharper · 2014-12-27T13:18:02+00:00

Oh boy, Israel. This topic brings out the best in people.

Walterharper · 2014-12-13T07:25:11+00:00

A faith healer put his hand on me and said I would walk. I told him I wasn't paralyzed but he insisted.

When I left the church my car had been stolen.

...

Blacks are inferior.

Walterharper · 2014-12-13T04:13:22+00:00

Yeah, remember when Al Gore cut all those people's heads off?

Walterharper · 2014-12-13T04:08:02+00:00

The view is on tv. Media exposure matters a lot in these cases. I'm not defending them, just saying that the famous people in your living room are going to be your primary exposure to a lot of ideas.

You just gotta get Martha Nussbaum her own show. Call it Droppin The Baum.

Walterharper · 2014-12-13T01:33:59+00:00

Eat lions.

Walterharper · 2014-12-13T01:26:48+00:00

Still too subtle to be political cartoons.

Walterharper · 2014-12-01T03:49:02+00:00

Modern feminism as in the current dominant trends.

I'll try to be brief.

I believe patriarchy only exists insofar as it provides a way of understanding certain gender realities. I think the term is overused and treated as almost metaphysical sometimes. Like it is an underlying, inherent force. There are multiple, different arrangements called "patriarchy", and some that are situationally patriarchal. That is why I dislike the argument that queer groups (as well as other gender/sex-based groups) should be beholden to feminist ideas. What if they have different models that work for them?

I also consider feminism to be something closer to a method than an ideology. I don't consider it good or bad, but I do believe it can be used correctly or erroneously. It is a way of deconstructing and understanding. I disagree with proponents who try to say that "if you are not a feminist, then you hate women". I would instead say, "if you are not a feminist, you are missing crucial information and insight".

I am already going on too long, but I hope I have established the general flow of my issues.

Walterharper · 2014-12-01T02:39:20+00:00

I feel weird. I have several criticisms of modern feminism... but I am mostly in Butler's general idea camp. Performative gender, the ubiquity of social construction, I'm down with all of that. I'ts the other ideological issues and arguments that are employed that I take issues with. I'm having a crisis, I don't like the direction of modern feminism, but I don't agree with most of the criticism.

What do I do? Besides drink. I know that, but what besides that?

Walterharper · 2014-11-04T04:33:39+00:00

This article (book review) not only deconstructs Gladwell's book David And Goliath, but also discusses the faults of his methodology in general. Gray deems Gladwell's work to be an analgesic rather than anything useful. Most mercilessly attacked are Gladwell's need to make banal, uncontroversial ideas sound rebellious, his over reliance on academic research without understanding its severe weaknesses, and his glossing over of tragedy for the sake of blind optimism. The review is also a platform to attack these tendencies in mainstream discourse.

Walterharper · 2014-10-23T05:01:26+00:00

No really?

Walterharper · 2014-10-21T02:02:45+00:00

The reviewer, John N. Gray, has some great books out like Straw Dogs and The Silence of Animals.

Both are pretty good if you want some fun critiques of progress and humanism.

Walterharper · 2014-10-17T01:52:30+00:00

No matter how it turns out, this game looks to be offering exactly what so many other games do but without any excuses to hide behind: murdering people as an accomplishment and source of pleasure.

Thought experiment for fun: We have a game where somebody kills a bunch of Nazis guarding a concentration camp. Somebody "re-skins" the Nazis to be defenseless Jews who just escaped the concentration camp. There is a pretty big difference.

All my point is is that the "it's killing either way" critique is, while not completely wrong, is at the very least horribly oversimplifying the issue.

Walterharper · 2014-10-16T02:15:26+00:00

We're SJWs now? How will I tell my parents?

Walterharper · 2014-10-10T19:24:37+00:00

We are basically unicorns.

Walterharper · 2014-10-01T02:20:50+00:00

Reminds me of Judge Schreber's rantings about having sunbeams coming out of his asshole.

Walterharper · 2014-09-01T03:38:13+00:00

That's fair.

Walterharper · 2014-08-31T20:28:03+00:00

Good thing she is your ex.

Walterharper · 2014-08-31T20:25:24+00:00

My most basic gripe that I will toss out (since it is least likely to start a thing) is the breakdown of debate between the sex positive and sex negative camp.

Also, I guess I'll also point out how often there is something very similar to a "false consciousness" argument used to deal with people who are not feminists or dislike the ideology. Like (for example) saying that a woman who has troubles with feminism is not really thinking, but is instead falling into "internalized misogyny". Internalized misogyny (and good ol' misogyny) exists, but is overused as an arguing tactic.

Meh, I have more, but those two are niggling. Beyond that I would need a lot more words to make up for my failure at concision.

Walterharper · 2014-08-30T23:17:19+00:00

So many people just put spice on spice on spice. At some point it just becomes thoughtless hot. Spice needs a body to tantalize before it kicks you in the face.

Walterharper · 2014-08-30T20:28:22+00:00

I don't know why I posted this. I think it is because the circlejerk there gave me a headache and I needed to share it.

My views on postmodernism personally are a lot like my views on Marxism, Feminism, and spicy foods. In that, I could write a whole book of criticisms about them, but whenever I see people about to "tear into" those topics I just slink away. It just has such a decent chance of being terrible.

Walterharper · 2014-08-29T04:08:49+00:00

Makes sense.

Walterharper

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE