I did not find your blog post about moral offsetting offensive or insensitive. Your explanations of evolutionary reasons for why we have such visceral reactions to rape, to me, addressed the moral outrageousness with which rape is associated. Also, you clearly stated your own inability of being friends with a rapist. Philosophical discussions are probably better when they include sensitive issues so they can have more of an impact on our thought processes.
Also, there was another post on here in which it was mentioned that a community organizer could come off as cult-like, dogmatic, or like they’re reading from a script. So, for that reason, it’s probably better to not try to censor yourself.
Regarding the content of the post about moral offsetting itself:
The problem I have with the thought experiments in which rape could lead to less rape overall is that there shouldn’t be such situations where such hard choices are presented. While that is true that ideally we shouldn’t have to face such hard decisions, I am probably underestimating the power of situations and overestimating my and others’ ability to act.
As someone who is turned off by the idea of moral offsetting, your zombie-rapists thought experiment helped me to see the utility of offsetting a bit more clearly. As you said, offsetting the harm to animals is not ideal, but if it is more effective towards getting us to a reality that is more ideal for animals, then it is valuable.
I did not find your blog post about moral offsetting offensive or insensitive. Your explanations of evolutionary reasons for why we have such visceral reactions to rape, to me, addressed the moral outrageousness with which rape is associated. Also, you clearly stated your own inability of being friends with a rapist. Philosophical discussions are probably better when they include sensitive issues so they can have more of an impact on our thought processes.
Also, there was another post on here in which it was mentioned that a community organizer could come off as cult-like, dogmatic, or like they’re reading from a script. So, for that reason, it’s probably better to not try to censor yourself.
Regarding the content of the post about moral offsetting itself:
The problem I have with the thought experiments in which rape could lead to less rape overall is that there shouldn’t be such situations where such hard choices are presented. While that is true that ideally we shouldn’t have to face such hard decisions, I am probably underestimating the power of situations and overestimating my and others’ ability to act.
As someone who is turned off by the idea of moral offsetting, your zombie-rapists thought experiment helped me to see the utility of offsetting a bit more clearly. As you said, offsetting the harm to animals is not ideal, but if it is more effective towards getting us to a reality that is more ideal for animals, then it is valuable.