A serious problem with Kant’s First formulation of the Categorical Imperative, the Universality formulation, is that while it is often a crucial test, it isn’t a perfect one — some ethical matters ought not to be universalized: this destroys their very substance.
A good example of a place where Kant’s test breaks down is in our ethical obligations to our own family, which are always particular: no one but her children have *these* duties to my/our mother.
Kant’s test of universalizability does do an excellent job testing whether something CAN BE universalized — and all moral principles that apply to us just qua human beings, or rather, persons, are such.
Don’t mistake me: Kant’s universalizability criterion is not SUFFICIENT to fully and correctly delineate moral duties. That isn’t a license to IGNORE it.
Evil, being a στέρησις (privation), has no essence, but it has characteristic marks — and one of these (which all men know) is in the attempt exempt oneself from the moral duties one recognizes as common to all.

“The rules don’t apply to me.”
Kant’s universalizability criterion does very well at ferreting out this kind of wickedness, e.g. the thief steals for his own gain, but wills that no one steals from him; the murderer who kills for his selfish interest does not will that he be expendable for another's interest.

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More from @EveKeneinan

3 Jan
No, it doesn’t mean EQUALITY; THAT is the FUCKING PROBLEM.

"Racial equity does not mean simply treating everyone equally, but rather, allocating resources and services in such a way that explicitly addresses barriers imposed by structural racism and White privilege..."
“racial equity” = treating people unequally, based on their race

“addressing White privilege” = depriving White people of goods or access to goods on the basis of their race, even though they have done nothing wrong
A large amount of “equity” is illegal under American constitutional protections against seizure of property without due process and equal protection of the laws.
Read 8 tweets
2 Jan
There are TWO main kinds of Socialism. The Left needs to stop pretending that National Socialism or German Socialism "isn't Socialism" because it isn't the other KIND of Socialism:
"The National Socialists hated socialists.”

No. The Nazis hated COMMUNISTS.

Precisely BECAUSE they were the RIVAL faction of Revolutionary Socialism.
Nazism and fascism more broadly were REVOLUTIONARY IDEOLOGIES.

Both the “revolutionary” and the “ideology” parts place these movements firmly on the LEFT.
Read 6 tweets
2 Jan
The Left will continue to act as if they are not subject to the rules they desire others to obey — but they cannot stop us from simply holding them in more and more contempt whenever they do.

After their actions regarding Trump, they have no ground to throw these stones.
Trump was the best president we’ve had in generations and the Left went insane, pretending he was a demon, and supporting a senile relic like Biden because “nothing mattered” but getting rid of Trump.

It does matter. They CHOSE this decrepit fool, and we’re all paying for it.
Of course Americans are going to be saying FUCK JOE BIDEN, or it’s stand in LET’S GO BRANDON — because Biden has been a disaster for Americans, inflicting international disgrace and domestic misery.

And Biden’s characteristic move for his failures is to blame everyone else.
Read 4 tweets
1 Jan
From a pro-life position, it is sometimes morally permissible to do something that you know will lead to a loss of life.
Generally, those of us on the pro-life side accept the ethical principle call the Principle of Double Effect (PDE):
Here is David Oderberg’s statement of the PDE (he calls it the DDE, Doctrine of Double Effect) :
Read 23 tweets
1 Jan
Why Kendi-ism is terrible.

Take premises from Kendi:

K1 Every law or policy is either racist or antiracist
K1.1 Only antiracist laws or policies are permissible
K2 Every law or police that is race-neutral, that is, that does not take race into account, is racist
It unmistakably follows from K1, K1.1, and K2 that

K2.2 Any law or policy which does not take race into account, or — what is in practice the same thing — “accounts” for race by treating each race equally is racist, and therefore not permissible.
And from K2.2 we get

K2.3 In order to be a antiracist and thus permissible, any law or policy must explicitly take race into account and decide how — not whether — to favor and disfavor the various races.
Read 25 tweets
31 Dec 21
It’s okay if vaccinated people spread covid.
As you can tell from the anecdote, two lines forbid people with covid from going in, but the vaccinated line is indifferent to whether you have covid or not. All that matters there is your vaccination status.

If you are vaccinated, it is fine to carry in a live case of covid.
So, to get in to the event, you can either (a) not have covid or (b) have covid but be vaccinated.

Does this double standard make sense? How is it just? Or sane?
Read 4 tweets

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