Monday, October 22, 2012

The Problem with Moral Arguments



I've never had a debate class, but I feel certain if I had, that this would have come up. Morals are not the best way to win an argument.

The reason is simple - if we don't share the same morals, then your argument based on morals will have no impact on me. To top it off, if you make morals any part of your argument bullet points, I'm going to discount all of them. Why? Because you've just proven to me you aren't making very wise decisions. Once you've illustrated that it would be rather foolish of me to put much stock in anything you say.

Please be clear - I'm not saying your morals are right or wrong. I'm just saying they're a foolish way to try and win anyone over to your viewpoint. Because, think about it, if I shared your moral code, I'd probably already agree with you, and you wouldn't be trying to convince me.

Simple? Yes.
Necessary to state? Apparently.

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