Search Results
7/19/2025, 6:30:49 PM
>>5019178
Now I imagine the reply will generally be that we shouldn’t actually reason as if we were behind the veil of ignorance. We’re not behind the veil of ignorance! But this is no more convincing than an anti-semite saying he can ignore the interests of Jews because he’s not Jewish. You should have empathy for others. Their interests matter! If you’d care deeply about a problem if you were impartial, then it would be an ethical mistake to completely ignore that problem.
The veil of ignorance is a nice way of cutting through the bias and unjustified lack of empathy. It tells slave owners not to own slaves, for they would not own slaves if they might end up as slaves. It tells nations not to plunder and kill enemy nations, for they would not do that if they might be the ones plundered and killed. And it tells us to care about the animals crying out in cage, barn, and field—even the small, weird ones we normally neglect.
The only question: will we listen?
Now I imagine the reply will generally be that we shouldn’t actually reason as if we were behind the veil of ignorance. We’re not behind the veil of ignorance! But this is no more convincing than an anti-semite saying he can ignore the interests of Jews because he’s not Jewish. You should have empathy for others. Their interests matter! If you’d care deeply about a problem if you were impartial, then it would be an ethical mistake to completely ignore that problem.
The veil of ignorance is a nice way of cutting through the bias and unjustified lack of empathy. It tells slave owners not to own slaves, for they would not own slaves if they might end up as slaves. It tells nations not to plunder and kill enemy nations, for they would not do that if they might be the ones plundered and killed. And it tells us to care about the animals crying out in cage, barn, and field—even the small, weird ones we normally neglect.
The only question: will we listen?
Page 1