Not to speak for lessdazed, but what I understood them to be saying is that when I argue against a proposition P solely by pointing to the consequences of believing P, I am implicitly asserting the truth of P. I would agree with that.
I would say further that it’s best not to implicitly assert the truth of false propositions, given a choice.
It follows that it’s better for me to say “P is false, and also has bad consequences” than to say “P has bad consequences.”
It’s perfectly fine, for me at least, but I prefer moral objections to be specified more clearly than “I do not agree”, which seem more appropriate for the disputing of factual statements. I discuss this in further detail in a comment of mine above.
Yep—this is a good point. I realise that my statement was ambiguous about how/why I disagreed. I left it up to the reader.
I did this, at the time, because I was quite angry at the things said on the website, and the way they were said. I was not in any fit state to argue my reasoning. I’ve since clarified in the followon comments… after sufficient time passed.
That wasn’t how I saw the context here, because of the statement “I do not agree”. Also, no consequences were enumerated. “I agree with the facts as stated, but think phrasing them this way has bad consequences,” is a fine way to argue against a presentation of ideas.
I am very suspicious of obscuring truth in the name of positive consequences, of applying only or mostly first-order idea utilitarianism.
You don’t think it’s acceptable to argue against things by saying various forms of “it has bad consequences”?
Not to speak for lessdazed, but what I understood them to be saying is that when I argue against a proposition P solely by pointing to the consequences of believing P, I am implicitly asserting the truth of P. I would agree with that.
I would say further that it’s best not to implicitly assert the truth of false propositions, given a choice.
It follows that it’s better for me to say “P is false, and also has bad consequences” than to say “P has bad consequences.”
It’s perfectly fine, for me at least, but I prefer moral objections to be specified more clearly than “I do not agree”, which seem more appropriate for the disputing of factual statements. I discuss this in further detail in a comment of mine above.
Yep—this is a good point. I realise that my statement was ambiguous about how/why I disagreed. I left it up to the reader.
I did this, at the time, because I was quite angry at the things said on the website, and the way they were said. I was not in any fit state to argue my reasoning. I’ve since clarified in the followon comments… after sufficient time passed.
That wasn’t how I saw the context here, because of the statement “I do not agree”. Also, no consequences were enumerated. “I agree with the facts as stated, but think phrasing them this way has bad consequences,” is a fine way to argue against a presentation of ideas.
I am very suspicious of obscuring truth in the name of positive consequences, of applying only or mostly first-order idea utilitarianism.