I definitely think population size is a much better gauge for a intuitive feel of how big a city is than people saying “big city” vs. “small city” It’s not a perfect metric, but it’s better than ill-defined words.
I don’t think this answers the point. We don’t micromanage other people’s geographic discourse out of a desire to make their description of cities more precise, because we can rely on existing language norms to perform the function well. Likewise, if we want to be scientific or precise for any particular function then we’ll always be able to describe people based on various metrics for how much self-interest they incorporate into their decisionmaking. My point is not that we should only describe EAs as hard core or softcore, but rather that it’s a distinction which is acceptable to refer to in basic terms if a speaker feels like that is the most efficient way to convey their ideas. Likewise, even though large city or small city are imperfect descriptors, we don’t normally feel a need to tell people not to use the terms.
But it should be clear that the ire which is provoked by terms like “softcore” and “hardcore” has nothing to do with how precise the language actually is, because for one thing the people against using the terms merely wish to replace them with a different dichotomy that means the exact same thing. Rather, I take it that the issue is solely one of the implication that softcore EAs are failing to meet some (supererogatory or obligatory) moral standard.
It is unclear that this is “right”.
It is unclear whether nonconsequentialist morality should consider siubstantial altruism to be praiseworthy?
most nonconsequentialist theories would not suggest this).
Since when do most nonconsequentialist theories consider altruistic sacrifice to be neither obligatory nor supererogatory?
I don’t think this answers the point. We don’t micromanage other people’s geographic discourse out of a desire to make their description of cities more precise, because we can rely on existing language norms to perform the function well. Likewise, if we want to be scientific or precise for any particular function then we’ll always be able to describe people based on various metrics for how much self-interest they incorporate into their decisionmaking. My point is not that we should only describe EAs as hard core or softcore, but rather that it’s a distinction which is acceptable to refer to in basic terms if a speaker feels like that is the most efficient way to convey their ideas. Likewise, even though large city or small city are imperfect descriptors, we don’t normally feel a need to tell people not to use the terms.
But it should be clear that the ire which is provoked by terms like “softcore” and “hardcore” has nothing to do with how precise the language actually is, because for one thing the people against using the terms merely wish to replace them with a different dichotomy that means the exact same thing. Rather, I take it that the issue is solely one of the implication that softcore EAs are failing to meet some (supererogatory or obligatory) moral standard.
It is unclear whether nonconsequentialist morality should consider siubstantial altruism to be praiseworthy?
Since when do most nonconsequentialist theories consider altruistic sacrifice to be neither obligatory nor supererogatory?