mandalorian2298 said:
Disclaimer: The first sentence or the post that follows it is not meant to be baiting. I am a professor of philosophy and this is a sincere statement of my feelings.
You realize that stating that you're a professor of philosophy at the outset of your post is at best a
non sequitur, and is likely to be construed as an argument
ad hominem that your opinion is correct. I submit to you, sir, that your supposed disclaimer is
itself an attempt to bait people. ;p
mandalorian2298 said:
The mistake I am talking about is:
Unlike saying proven objective truths (for example "Randomly attacking people on the street will not make you popular among the police officers."), expressing purely subjective opinions does not obligate other people to agree with you
How are you using the term 'objective'? The proposition "so-and-so holds such-and-such opinion" could very well be considered objectively true if it is a publicly accessible fact that the person in question holds the opinion in question. And what is a subjective opinion? Aren't opinions subjective
by definition? If I believe that the moral truth is best expressed by Kant's Categorical Imperative, is that a subjective opinion?
Are you alluding to the descriptive/normative distinction? The descriptive fact that someone holds an opinion does not mean that said person
should hold that opinion or that the rule expressed by the opinion has prescriptive force. Unless, of course, one accepts a version of moral relativism. But I frankly don't understand the point of moral relativism; why not just commit to moral anti-realism or non-cognitivism at that point?
mandalorian2298 said:
So far, I am sure that most of you are on board with me. However, for reasons that are entirely mysterious to me, most people believe that, if they wish it REALLY hard, their subjective opinions will MAGICALLY BECOME OBJECTIVE TRUTHS! Aalakazam!
If everyone became Nietzscheans we wouldn't have this problem. Largely because everyone would realize that the very thought of an objective moral truth is absurd.
mandalorian2298 said:
For the betterment of the human race, I present you with a short list of things that DO NOT transmogrify your opinions into objective truths: (snip)
I vaguely recall them telling us as much when I was in kindergarten. If it didn't sink in then, there isn't much chance of it happening now. I find it hilarious that we don't teach any courses on logic or critical thinking until college. Doesn't that just say it all?
mandalorian2298 said:
4. Equating the act of expressing an opinion that you disagree with or using an expression that you dislike (but which in itself is not meant as an actual threat against the life or well-being of another person) with an act of aggression does not make you extra sensitive; it makes you insane. (this seems to be stupidity du jour these days. As a method of reality check, I invite all of you 'words can hurt just as bad' people to go to find a rape victim and say to him/her: "What happened to you is terrible. It is just as bad as using 'rape' as a casual synonym for defeat.")
Couldn't have said it better myself. Society won't become better by conditioning people to whine and cry at the slightest offense. What you'll get is a society of whimpering idiots who think it is an act of violence to question someone's beliefs. People need to grow a thicker skin and a sense of humor.