I'm about a quarter Bayesian.
I'm fairly certain at least one professor would say suggest, slyly, that I don't know enough to have a degree of certainty about how much I ascribe or do not ascribe to any particular epistemology. And that what I've just said is entirely irrational.
And that's probably true: I'm probably a quarter Bayesian, half Skeptic, a third Kantian, and maybe forty percent Aristotelian. And 90% chemicals, hormones, and biases masquerading as thought.
Or maybe I'm a bunch of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, and pride pretending to prudence, temperance, courage, and justice.
Knowing what I do about the lack of ethical prudence by ethicists, I wonder if my time researching epistemology made me any better at practicing epistemology.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It's probably best to be a la carte about your ethics, too, since slavish adherence to any one ethical model can result in some weird conclusions (eg, Peter Singer, whose strict utilitarianism leads to a laudable animal rights stance and a horrifying semi-eugenics position re: people with disabilities).
ReplyDeleteHorrifying by your ethical standards, of course. Not by his.
ReplyDelete::skimms wiki to remember::
Yep, also horrifying by conventionally accepted modern ethical standards.
My view is definitely nuanced, let's say. I'll go this far and say: I won't be intentionally killing any newborn babies.
Because while I'm maybe a quarter Bayesian, I'm likely 100% a moral coward.
Which ... I wish I wasn't, but it sure does make life easier.
[ Also: law of discussing modern philosophy on the internet -- sooner or later it becomes about killing babies. ]
Oh... oh no. I've been discussing philosophy on a public thread! How long before Brand comes in to tell me how wrong I am?
ReplyDeleteBrand or Tony or a half dozen others. Or until IMs start asking for explanations from folk who don't like to talk in public.
ReplyDeleteEpistemologically, I'm a mix of Kant, Wittgenstein, Foucault, James, and Kuhn. Though one I think is coherent. Basically a Pragmatic Constructivist. :) Ethically, though... that's more complicated. A basic groundwork (hah) of Kant, the only one IMO who ever put forth a solid core for his axioms (freedom of reason/will), with a big elaboration on circles of duty and a separate, complimentary value system of empathy and compassion.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually about half sanguine and 25% choleric. :)
ReplyDelete/stares suspiciously/
ReplyDeleteAnd what does all this have to do with the moral acceptability of killing babies?
ReplyDelete#teamdoesntliketotalkinpublic
ReplyDelete