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by klipt 317 days ago
You're not making any coherent points. You vaguely refer to aborting downs fetuses as evil and "full of bloodshed" but then you're unwilling to support laws that would prevent that.

Do you actually believe in anything except misunderstanding what utilitarian means?

1 comments

I'm not going to answer arguments you make up and assign me as though they were my own. Do people usually tolerate that in your experience?
Look in the mirror pal. You've been nothing but rude and assuming this whole thread
Well, I haven't been willing to take you at your word when you showed up to tell me how wrong I am based on nothing but your say-so. Sure, I'll give you that.

Were you not expecting to have to convince anyone? If that really is so, then again I have to ask, do you imagine this sort of thing normal? Are you in the habit of letting harangue stand in for conversation in ordinary life also, or is this a special occasion?

Okay, tell me what your moral framework is, and I'll tell you how it's just a variant of utilitarianism.
For the sake of this argument, let's assume my moral framework is identical with that of a priest of Tezcatlipoca, at the height of the Aztec Empire. Astonish me.
What began as a complaint about HN’s interest in Scott Alexander devolved into a prolonged, hostile, and circular argument about whether certain reproductive choices are a form of eugenics, whether that’s compatible with utilitarianism, and whether utilitarianism itself is morally bankrupt.

Neither side persuades the other, and the thread becomes more about rhetorical sparring than the original topic.

> For the sake of this argument, let's assume my moral framework is identical with that of a priest of Tezcatlipoca, at the height of the Aztec Empire. Astonish me.

Easy, your utility function is an indicator on WWPTD (What Would a Priest of Tezcatlipoca Do)?

+1000 when your actions are in accordance with a priest of Tezcatlipoca, and -1000 when they are not.

Like string theory, you can make utilitarianism fit anything. So on its own, it is neither good nor evil.

It entirely depends on which utility function.