tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post115466440127899849..comments2023-10-26T22:06:11.166+11:00Comments on Metamagician3000: Towards a better debate on emerging technologiesRussell Blackfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-78110640504429866292007-03-01T16:43:00.000+11:002007-03-01T16:43:00.000+11:00Looking for information and found it at this great...Looking for information and found it at this great site... <A HREF="http://www.huge-cock-5.info/Bigcocks22.html" REL="nofollow">»</A> <A HREF="http://www.infinitifx35.info/Deluxesearchninaferrari.html" REL="nofollow">»</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-1156255196823765992006-08-22T23:59:00.000+10:002006-08-22T23:59:00.000+10:00I've been thinking, this week, about Michael Sande...I've been thinking, this week, about Michael Sandel's essay "The Case Against Perfection", which I am using at the moment in my teaching. <BR/><BR/>Sandel is not the sort of posturing, self-righteous character that I had in mind - he's a distinguished philsopher, after all, a valued contributor to many debates in the general field of political philosophy. Yet, there is the sense that he wants to impose a kind of quasi-religious sensibility on the rest of us. Much of his argument about the value we supposedly find in "giftedness" (in a very strong sense), and the wrongness or arrogance of seeking mastery over our destinies, just seems so out of place in a secular, pluralist context.<BR/><BR/>I wonder what my students will make of Sandel. I'll get some feedback from them tomorrow.Russell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-1154753980994565862006-08-05T14:59:00.000+10:002006-08-05T14:59:00.000+10:00One thing I've learned in recent years is that the...One thing I've learned in recent years is that the people with the greatest power to influence public policy are not necessarily people who operate on principles of reason and (secular) ethics. <BR/><BR/>Rather, we have the self-righteous folks you describe, and I'm not sure if they're actually under the impression that their religious convictions and "gut feelings" really do translate to fact that ought to be made law, or whether it's a sort of posturing that they deem necessary in order to secure votes and widespread public support.<BR/><BR/>I definitely think that lack of proper science education is a factor here, but I'm not sure how that could be remedied. Important science these days is more complex, both technically and ethically, than the discoveries and innovations of previous eras. It takes time to learn about it and consider it, and it takes less work to reject something out of hand than it does to try to understand it.Anne Corwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940566603711834053noreply@blogger.com