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Perhaps call it a bait & switch doctrine? The bait is an exciting proposition, but when you press the author for details, they perform the switch, and what's le
by henrikschroder 11y ago
Perhaps call it a bait & switch doctrine? The bait is an exciting proposition, but when you press the author for details, they perform the switch, and what's left is not really exciting anymore.
As for the example using morality, the whole point of absolute morality systems is that moral statements have a truth value independent of human "observation", and in such a world, the sentence "morality is socially constructed" means that the truth values of moral statements are socially constructed, which is exciting! But the switch or the motte in this case is that the author didn't mean that, they were talking about people's perception of morality the whole time, and it is a truism that perople's perception of morality is socially constructed, and that is boring.
Compare for example how exciting the proposition that objective reality is shaped by our thoughts (MAGIC!!!), vs the proposition that our subjective experience of reality is shaped by our thoughts (BORING!).
- wisty 11y agoIt's almost the opposite of bait and switch. In the motte and bailey, the "bailey" is put front and center and only abandoned when a more defensible position when under attack ("everything is subjective"). In "bait and switch" the bait is put front and center, but it isn't the position that you want to take, it's one that's used to lure in new recruits ("learn how to learn!"). In some cases, the "motte" and the "bait" might be the same thing - a good bait can also be easy to defend, but not all philosophically defensible positions are particularly attractive.
- henrikschroder 11y ago> It's almost the opposite of bait and switch. Yes, you are completely right, and I was wrong.