The specific quote the grandparent was replying to is about moralizing.
The problem with the word “best” there is the same problem the word “good” always runs into—the difference between “a good car” and “a good person”. I’m using “best charity” in the same sense I would use “best Arctic survival gear”—best at achieving the purpose you are assumed to have. Although I think there is a case for that also being the morally best for most moral systems in which “morally best” makes sense, that would be way outside the scope of this discussion.
I understand what you are doing in the post and follow the sense of ‘best’. What I am observing is that the claim “you are moralizing” is factually correct. The moralization is not in the form of a direct ‘should’ nor is it in the way in which you use best. It can be seen here:
best at achieving the purpose you are assumed to have.
The problem with the word “best” there is the same problem the word “good” always runs into—the difference between “a good car” and “a good person”. I’m using “best charity” in the same sense I would use “best Arctic survival gear”—best at achieving the purpose you are assumed to have. Although I think there is a case for that also being the morally best for most moral systems in which “morally best” makes sense, that would be way outside the scope of this discussion.
I understand what you are doing in the post and follow the sense of ‘best’. What I am observing is that the claim “you are moralizing” is factually correct. The moralization is not in the form of a direct ‘should’ nor is it in the way in which you use best. It can be seen here:
That is an extremely powerful moral gambit.