You’re mixing several claims here. One is about moral views versus facts, which I agree is a large philosophical discussion. Let’s put that to one side.
Another claim is about the proper role of priors. If I’m reading you correctly you think there is no role for priors in evaluating claims whatsoever. That’s a surprising position, to put it mildly, so I want to make sure I am reading you correctly before engaging with it. I still don’t know whether I am.
Then there’s a number of claims about how bad political bias is and why we should try to avoid it, which I agree with and consider at best tangential to the discussion at hand. Striving for objectivity is not the same as ignoring common sense.
No, I’m not ignoring priors. If I have a strong prior belief that my dice is unbiased, clearly I shouldn’t give that up because I roll three sixes in a row (although you should adjust it slightly downwards). Factual priors should influence your factual beliefs.
What I am saying is that you shouldn’t let your moral views influence your factual beliefs, and that doing so amounts to bias. Hence the whole bias/​objectivity issue is very relevant here.
You’re mixing several claims here. One is about moral views versus facts, which I agree is a large philosophical discussion. Let’s put that to one side.
Another claim is about the proper role of priors. If I’m reading you correctly you think there is no role for priors in evaluating claims whatsoever. That’s a surprising position, to put it mildly, so I want to make sure I am reading you correctly before engaging with it. I still don’t know whether I am.
Then there’s a number of claims about how bad political bias is and why we should try to avoid it, which I agree with and consider at best tangential to the discussion at hand. Striving for objectivity is not the same as ignoring common sense.
No, I’m not ignoring priors. If I have a strong prior belief that my dice is unbiased, clearly I shouldn’t give that up because I roll three sixes in a row (although you should adjust it slightly downwards). Factual priors should influence your factual beliefs.
What I am saying is that you shouldn’t let your moral views influence your factual beliefs, and that doing so amounts to bias. Hence the whole bias/​objectivity issue is very relevant here.