I started as a poet, so I hope I’ll be forgiven my occasional forays into rhetorically interesting constructions, as I am prone to them.
I’d say that the construction is somewhat weaker; if you undergo a meta-level value calculation, you -may- decide that the value of information from doing an object-level moral calculation is sometimes negative, including the cost of the calculation in the value of the information. (There’s a joke in there somewhere about the infinite cost I calculated in my meta-meta-level value calculation for collecting the information to prove the meta-level calculation for all cases...)
They have their uses, but the word “rational” can be a bit sensitive around here. If you’ve done a value of information calculation and decided the moral calculation isn’t worth your time, then obviously doing that moral calculation can’t be considered “rational.” Though it could be a way to attempt to make a “rational” choice on a moral problem. This meta-level stuff can be tricky!
That’s what I meant to say, actually; I think we agree on what the construction means now,
I started as a poet, so I hope I’ll be forgiven my occasional forays into rhetorically interesting constructions, as I am prone to them.
I’d say that the construction is somewhat weaker; if you undergo a meta-level value calculation, you -may- decide that the value of information from doing an object-level moral calculation is sometimes negative, including the cost of the calculation in the value of the information. (There’s a joke in there somewhere about the infinite cost I calculated in my meta-meta-level value calculation for collecting the information to prove the meta-level calculation for all cases...)
They have their uses, but the word “rational” can be a bit sensitive around here. If you’ve done a value of information calculation and decided the moral calculation isn’t worth your time, then obviously doing that moral calculation can’t be considered “rational.” Though it could be a way to attempt to make a “rational” choice on a moral problem. This meta-level stuff can be tricky!
That’s what I meant to say, actually; I think we agree on what the construction means now,
I’ll add one thing, on consideration: Doing that calculation may be irrational, but that’s not to say the calculation itself is irrational.