On Dec 13, 2008, at 2:15 PM, andie nachgeborenen wrote:
> ...I say, utilitarianism is wrong because it could justify slavery
> if that maximized social welfare. The hard-boiled utilitarian says,
> Yes, and your point is? The HBU does not share my intuition that
> chattel slavery is morally wicked, period...
Your "intuition" is purely a social product, reflecting the dominant ideology (prejudice if expressed as "intuition") of a society that has outgrown slavery. It claims the entitlement to pass moral judgment upon a whole epoch ("mode of production") of human history on the basis of contemporary moral ideology (prejudice).
By the way, what basis does a "pragmatist" have to prefer or condemn *anything* except for its effects on human well-being ("social welfare")?
Shane Mage
> This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it
> always was and is and shall be: an everlasting fire,
> kindling in measures and going out in measures."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos