On Sat, 5 Jan 2002, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> Why do a disproportionate number of blacks enlist in the U.S.
> military? Why would anyone? Why would anyone consent to fly a B-52
> and drop bombs? Why do a disproportionate number of blacks get
> caught in the U.S. criminal justice system? Why did cops beat up
> Rodney King? Why did the cops get acquitted? Why did the L.A.
> uprising happen? Why did Reginald Denney get beat up? Why do
> capitalists usually resist union organizing? Why do some workers
> join unions but not others? Why do some workers scab when others are
> on strike? Why does a larger proportion of workers get unionized at
> some point in history than at other points? Ethics has only a
> marginal role (if any at all) in explaining such phenomena....
> --
> Yoshie
Sure. Those are empirical questions with ethical implications. But they cannot be addressed merely by saying that, "I'd do the same thing if I were in his shoes." The statement, which must be reduced to the trivial tautology "I'd do the same if I were him in the relevant repsects" if it is to make any sense, adds nothing to the (hopefully) ensuing explanation.
-- Luke