I’m not making any claim about the moral value of embryos.
I just think Ord’s claim that embryo valuers don’t care about embryos (in the right way, in all circumstances) says that their general view can be discarded is not convincing. I know tons of people who claim X, but don’t act on X. That doesn’t mean they’re wrong about X- they might be weak or hypocritical or bad at reasoning!
I shouldn’t have implied you made any claim about the moral value of embryos. I should have said, instead, that someone who thinks they are morally valuable would bite the bullet... And Ord thinks that’s a very problematic position—it apparently implies that we should try to prevent the loss embryos even if it happens right after conception. So it is not absurd to see his point as akin to a reductio.
On the other hand
That doesn’t mean they’re wrong about X- they might be weak or hypocritical or bad at reasoning
If they are “weak or hypocritical or bad at reasoning” then their failing to act on X conflicts with other beliefs—like their belief in X. They can solve the conflict by either dropping X, or changing their behavior. We usaully don’t convince people to donate to GD by first convincing them that suffering matters; we assume they agree that suffering matters and show them that their belief that suffering matters imply they should donate... If someone says “Oh, but now I don’t think suffering matters anymore” you need to use different arguments—you have to show that this new position conflicts with other premises they defend
I’m not making any claim about the moral value of embryos.
I just think Ord’s claim that embryo valuers don’t care about embryos (in the right way, in all circumstances) says that their general view can be discarded is not convincing. I know tons of people who claim X, but don’t act on X. That doesn’t mean they’re wrong about X- they might be weak or hypocritical or bad at reasoning!
I shouldn’t have implied you made any claim about the moral value of embryos. I should have said, instead, that someone who thinks they are morally valuable would bite the bullet...
And Ord thinks that’s a very problematic position—it apparently implies that we should try to prevent the loss embryos even if it happens right after conception. So it is not absurd to see his point as akin to a reductio.
On the other hand
If they are “weak or hypocritical or bad at reasoning” then their failing to act on X conflicts with other beliefs—like their belief in X. They can solve the conflict by either dropping X, or changing their behavior. We usaully don’t convince people to donate to GD by first convincing them that suffering matters; we assume they agree that suffering matters and show them that their belief that suffering matters imply they should donate...
If someone says “Oh, but now I don’t think suffering matters anymore” you need to use different arguments—you have to show that this new position conflicts with other premises they defend