4 ms·

Is there a philosopher who defends proximity? I see robust communities as built upon “Common-Sense Morality”, with some limited amount of broader charity throu

Is there a philosopher who defends proximity? I see robust communities as built upon “Common-Sense Morality”, with some limited amount of broader charity through the government and religious organizations. Local communities are suffering due to tech disruption, and these anti-social ideas from Parfit are like nails in the coffin (should they become part of received morality).

dlkf 3y ago
Hume wrote morality is better felt than reasoned. There is a large tradition in virtue ethics following Hume (eg Bernard Williams) who defend our moral intuitions, our prioritization of family, etc.
Barrin92 3y ago
Rousseau probably embodies that more than anyone else, from Emile: “Every particular society, when it is narrow and unified, is estranged from the all-encompassing society. Every patriot is harsh to foreigners. They arc only men. They arc nothing in his eyes - This is a drawback, inevitable but not compelling. The essential thing is to be good to the people with whom one lives. Abroad, the Spartan was ambitious, avaricious. iniquitous. But disinterestedness, equity, and concord reigned within his walls. Distrust those cosmopolitans who go to great length in their books to discover duties they do not deign to fulfill around them. A philosopher loves the Tartars so as to be spared having to love his neighbors.”
impendia 3y ago
> Is there a philosopher who defends proximity? Larry Temkin did, when I took two of his ethics undergraduate courses in the 90s. It was a brief side point he was making, to contrast with arguments of the form "Do you believe you'd have an obligation to jump in a lake, and ruin your clothes, to save someone from drowning? If so, the same reasoning implies you have to give all your money to charity." He described it as "participating in a morality" where one has a heightened sense of obligation to one's immediate community. Temkin was a PhD student of Parfit, and is well known in his own right. We read Parfit's Reasons and Persons in his class, and he also invited Parfit to campus so we could hear him give a guest lecture. The questions afterwards, coming from Temkin's faculty colleagues, were quite feisty. A wonderful and deeply memorable experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Temkin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Temkin
- johngossman 3y ago
  Thank you. It appears Larry Temkin was the philosopher I didn't know I was looking for Good interview here: https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2022/7/24/larry-temkin-transitivity-critiques-of-effective-altruism-international-aid-pluralism-podcast https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2022/7/24/larry-temkin-tra...

dlkf 3y ago

Hume wrote morality is better felt than reasoned. There is a large tradition in virtue ethics following Hume (eg Bernard Williams) who defend our moral intuitions, our prioritization of family, etc.

Barrin92 3y ago

Rousseau probably embodies that more than anyone else, from Emile: “Every particular society, when it is narrow and unified, is estranged from the all-encompassing society. Every patriot is harsh to foreigners. They arc only men. They arc nothing in his eyes - This is a drawback, inevitable but not compelling. The essential thing is to be good to the people with whom one lives. Abroad, the Spartan was ambitious, avaricious. iniquitous. But disinterestedness, equity, and concord reigned within his walls. Distrust those cosmopolitans who go to great length in their books to discover duties they do not deign to fulfill around them. A philosopher loves the Tartars so as to be spared having to love his neighbors.”

impendia 3y ago

> Is there a philosopher who defends proximity? Larry Temkin did, when I took two of his ethics undergraduate courses in the 90s. It was a brief side point he was making, to contrast with arguments of the form "Do you believe you'd have an obligation to jump in a lake, and ruin your clothes, to save someone from drowning? If so, the same reasoning implies you have to give all your money to charity." He described it as "participating in a morality" where one has a heightened sense of obligation to one's immediate community. Temkin was a PhD student of Parfit, and is well known in his own right. We read Parfit's Reasons and Persons in his class, and he also invited Parfit to campus so we could hear him give a guest lecture. The questions afterwards, coming from Temkin's faculty colleagues, were quite feisty. A wonderful and deeply memorable experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Temkin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Temkin

johngossman 3y ago
Thank you. It appears Larry Temkin was the philosopher I didn't know I was looking for Good interview here: https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2022/7/24/larry-temkin-transitivity-critiques-of-effective-altruism-international-aid-pluralism-podcast https://www.thendobetter.com/arts/2022/7/24/larry-temkin-tra...