It’s easy to decide that the moral significance of a fetus changes gradually from conception to birth; it takes a bit more thought to quantify the significance. Abstractly, at what stage of development is the suffering of 100 fetuses commensurate with the suffering of a newborn? 1 month of gestation? 4? 9? More concretely, if you’re pregnant, you’ll have to decide not only whether the phenomenological point of view of your unborn child should be taken into account in your decisionmaking, but you’ll have to decide in what way and to what degree it should be taken into account.
It’s not clear whether your disapproval of animal torture is for consequentialist or virtue-ethics reasons, or whether it is a moral judgment at all; but in either case there are plenty of everyday cases of borderline animal exploitation. (Dogfighting? Inhumane flensing?) And maybe you have a very specific policy about which practices you support and which you don’t. But why that policy?
Perhaps “crisis” is too dramatic in its connotations, but you should at least give some thought to the many moral decisions you make every day, and decide whether, on reflection, you endorse the choices you’re making.
Abstractly, at what stage of development is the suffering of 100 fetuses commensurate with the suffering of a newborn? 1 month of gestation? 4? 9?
Concretely, how many people that you know have faced a situation where that calculation is relevant?
More concretely, if you’re pregnant, you’ll have to decide not only whether the phenomenological point of view of your unborn child should be taken into account in your decisionmaking, but you’ll have to decide in what way and to what degree it should be taken into account.
I don’t know how much you’ll have to decide on how you decide. You’ll decide what to do based on your valuations—I don’t think the valuations themselves involve a lot of deciding. I don’t decide that ice cream is yummy; I taste it and it is.
And yes, I think it’s a good policy to review your decisions and actions to see if you’re endorsing the choices you’re making. But that’s not primarily an issue of suspect ontologies, but of just paying attention to your choices.
I don’t know how much you’ll have to decide on how you decide. You’ll decide what to do based on your valuations—I don’t think the valuations themselves involve a lot of deciding. I don’t decide that ice cream is yummy; I taste it and it is.
I don’t know what you mean by this, but maybe there’s no point in further discussion because we seem to agree that one should reflect on one’s moral decisions.
It’s easy to decide that the moral significance of a fetus changes gradually from conception to birth; it takes a bit more thought to quantify the significance. Abstractly, at what stage of development is the suffering of 100 fetuses commensurate with the suffering of a newborn? 1 month of gestation? 4? 9? More concretely, if you’re pregnant, you’ll have to decide not only whether the phenomenological point of view of your unborn child should be taken into account in your decisionmaking, but you’ll have to decide in what way and to what degree it should be taken into account.
It’s not clear whether your disapproval of animal torture is for consequentialist or virtue-ethics reasons, or whether it is a moral judgment at all; but in either case there are plenty of everyday cases of borderline animal exploitation. (Dogfighting? Inhumane flensing?) And maybe you have a very specific policy about which practices you support and which you don’t. But why that policy?
Perhaps “crisis” is too dramatic in its connotations, but you should at least give some thought to the many moral decisions you make every day, and decide whether, on reflection, you endorse the choices you’re making.
Concretely, how many people that you know have faced a situation where that calculation is relevant?
I don’t know how much you’ll have to decide on how you decide. You’ll decide what to do based on your valuations—I don’t think the valuations themselves involve a lot of deciding. I don’t decide that ice cream is yummy; I taste it and it is.
And yes, I think it’s a good policy to review your decisions and actions to see if you’re endorsing the choices you’re making. But that’s not primarily an issue of suspect ontologies, but of just paying attention to your choices.
I don’t know what you mean by this, but maybe there’s no point in further discussion because we seem to agree that one should reflect on one’s moral decisions.