Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

In reply to Irfan Khawaja. In popular usage, I take ‘fascist’ to be something of a moving target in its descriptive content. Though there is perhaps a core descriptive meaning that is adequate enough for some contexts, in many contexts the …

In reply to Raymond Raad. Let me take your comment slowly. I agree with what you say at the beginning of the first paragraph, but think you make a misinference or two along the way. I’ve numbered your sentences for ease of reference. (1) On the o…

In reply to Raymond Raad. Yet on the other hand if you got the flu one year ago from an asymptomatic carrier at Walmart would you say he violated your rights? I would say so, absolutely. But let me respond to your other comment more directly. LikeLike

Although the ideal is to get everyone vaccinated, there currently are not enough doses, so while they’re making more, we get to argue about who should receive the doses that already exist.  Different suggestions imply something about underlying ethical principles and intuitions.  It seems mostly uncontroversial that health care workers ought to be vaccinated first. …

In reply to wfoddis. I’d love to see updated IFR data if you have it – stratified by age and compared to the flu. The most data I saw was from late summer from Europe and the cdc. Yes of course early in a pandemic we have to take a precautionary…

In reply to Irfan Khawaja. I agree with you that voting on character is important – even if you have a policy track record. To clarify I didn’t underestimate Trump’s character. I agree that he was despicable and fascist from the start. What I und…

In reply to Raymond Raad. If I’m understanding the question correctly, we can quantify risk with metrics like CFR (early in a pandemic), IFR, and hospitalization rates. Hard to know these early on in a pandemic, though. Seems we would have to tak…

In reply to mlyoung57. I don’t understand your reluctance to use the term “fascism” for Trump and his supporters. Trump incited an armed, angry mob of known white supremacists to invade the Capitol in order to disrupt the certificatio…

Addressing David’s post and echoing some of Ray’s sentiments, I both somewhat underestimated Trump’s bad character (oh shit, he believes his bullshit at some level and laps up conspiracy theories, it is not just a show) and these part…

In reply to Irfan Khawaja. Just let someone die so you can attend. Priorities, man. LikeLike