And so in capitalist society we have a democracy that is curtailed, wretched, false, a democracy only for the rich, for the minority. The dictatorship of the proletariat, the period of transition to communism, will for the first time create democracy for the people, for the majority, along with the necessary suppression of the exploiters, of the minority.
- V. I. Lenin, State and Revolution (1917)Contrary to what moralists believe, it is not bad or disreputable to refuse to explain and justify one's normative commitments, especially to hostile audiences. It may not be persuasive to just say "x is good, and y is bad" without giving reasons, but it is not deficient to do so. In fact, it may be virtuous if you believe there is something wrong with, or problematic about, being prompted to legitimize one's moral beliefs locally.
Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality [will] have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence.
- Karl Marx, German Ideology (1845)I read an angry response to a D&D stream that employed a theater-of-the-mind style of play aimed at the lack of minis and maps used in the stream. The dude was furious that the game did not use visual aids, because it was "not fun" like that. And I am like, "Whoa, man, maybe this isn't your type of game, but it is not wrong for people to just have fun with a story and their imagination, and nothing more". 😑
Perhaps the biggest piece of mystification in ethics is the talk of an 'ethical perspective,' as though there really is a natural, stable, universal, or even just easily identifiable perspective that has, in and of itself, a recognizably ethical character. Something like this is often assumed, but rarely explained or scrutinized; likely because it is an assumption that cannot survive much scrutiny to begin with.
Fair warning; Violence mention; I'm not actually going to do this, but you should know what you deserve
I will personally come to your house and punch you in the throat
If there is anti-queer violence in the news
And you're the one who says "The attacker was probably in the closet"
Straights—if you can believe it—can be hateful against queer people
Research Master philosophy student at the University of Groningen focusing on the History of Modern Philosophy and Political Economy