The clearest statement of Chu view (from the comment thread) seems to be: “As a very tentative general heuristic … major ideologies that attempt to validate some form of the just-world fallacy should be terminated with extreme prejudice.” He correctly names sexism (“Men have all the power because they’re just better!”) and racism (“Europeans have all the power because they’re just better!”) as examples.
This is not just world fallacy, in fact for specific values of “better” these are empirical statements. Or would he (and/or you) consider statements along the lines of “I defeated him in the fight because I was stronger” an example of “just world fallacy”. What about “being rational helps me achieve my goals”?
This is not just world fallacy, in fact for specific values of “better” these are empirical statements.
No, the “just world fallacy” is a belief that the world always reaches morally “fair” outcomes. So “better” here has to mean that they deserve such outcomes in a moral sense. My guess is that many people here would reject these claims and find them quite objectionable, but it’s hard to deny that some followers of the Dark Enlightenment (albeit perhaps a minority) seem to be motivated by them. The just world fallacy (in addition to other biases, such as ingroup tribalism) provides one plausible explanation of this.
No, the “just world fallacy” is a belief that the world always reaches morally “fair” outcomes. So “better” here has to mean that they deserve such outcomes in a moral sense.
Ok, so which moral theory are we using to make that determination?
Someone who behaves more rationally is more likely to achieve his goals. Do you consider this a “fair” or “unfair” outcome?
This is not just world fallacy, in fact for specific values of “better” these are empirical statements. Or would he (and/or you) consider statements along the lines of “I defeated him in the fight because I was stronger” an example of “just world fallacy”. What about “being rational helps me achieve my goals”?
No, the “just world fallacy” is a belief that the world always reaches morally “fair” outcomes. So “better” here has to mean that they deserve such outcomes in a moral sense. My guess is that many people here would reject these claims and find them quite objectionable, but it’s hard to deny that some followers of the Dark Enlightenment (albeit perhaps a minority) seem to be motivated by them. The just world fallacy (in addition to other biases, such as ingroup tribalism) provides one plausible explanation of this.
Ok, so which moral theory are we using to make that determination?
Someone who behaves more rationally is more likely to achieve his goals. Do you consider this a “fair” or “unfair” outcome?