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> No one asks a philosopher if that philosopher personally thinks some act is okay or not okay... I've seen counter-examples of this in newspapers, where they

• thenerdfiles 13y ago
  Like how the Daily Show calls its "news correspondants" "experts"? Being an expert on ethics and describing one's stance is more than just opinion. It's a trade. We expect philosophers to have distinguished opinions, opinions they have defended and examined, partly inherited from history of philosophy itself. A philosopher can give its personal opinion, but usually they identify it as such. We do often want to know what the person thinks, in which case we're asking the person, not the philosopher. The person just so happens to talk like they do most of the time.