Even though I try really hard to buy only the groceries we need and in amounts we can use, my husband & I still end up throwing away a pretty good bit of food on a regular basis. What I can’t figure out is why throwing away food feels so much worse than letting clothes …
Tag Archives: moral
more thoughts on veganism and well-being
I was thrilled to receive this thoughtful comment on my last post on my vegan experiment: Comment from abeala I have some disjointed things to say in response. First of all, yes, it can definitely be difficult to have a significant other who does not eat the same way as you. Around the time I …
madeleine albright thinks I'm going to hell
The other day, I saw a Madeleine Albright quote in my Twitter timeline. I don’t know if this Time magazine interview is the original source, but this is the quote (bold): What advice do you have for women who want respect from their male colleagues? Dana Philbin, CHICAGO Women have to be active listeners and …
kant on queueing, or why I am not a kantian
In response to my post on how not to think about cutting in line, Jacob Levy makes these important points: I’m puzzled. This seems like the easiest of cases for a Kantian. I cannot will as a universal maxim that the cutter be allowed into line, because that would destroy the coherence of lining up. …
my least favorite facebook group: "cancel student loan debt to stimulate the economy"
I found out about this little movement through its Facebook group, “Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy.” Basically, a guy named Robert Applebaum hatched an attractive-to-some but crazy plan to have the government bail out those carrying college debt by paying off their loans. This would, allegedly, cause all those formerly oppressed by …
how to think about cutting in line: a follow-up
Here is the second half to my previous post on this topic, as promised. CAUTION: Ideas in progress! Constructive criticism welcome. It seems to me that there is a (rough) distinction between two kinds of lines: those that are instituted for practical purposes, and those that confer moral status upon the persons at the front. First, …
on the moral status of donating blood
Yesterday, I went and gave some blood. This got me thinking about the moral status of donating blood. It’s got to be either obligatory or supererogatory. You might recall these definitions from my previous post on boycotting marriage: Obligatory: If an action is morally obligatory, that means that you must do it, from the moral …
