Arguments

Philosophical Arguments #

We’re you to write a philosophy paper in college, you might be told to structure it roughly as follows

Intro
1. The thesis (Question being answered)
2. Justification for asking
3. Moral framework used for this argument
Proposed answer
Justification for the answer (Argument) - This is where the data goes
Defend against rebuttals from other frameworks (or the same framework)
Conclusion
1. Summarize arguments

I will try to follow this structure on OpGuides.

Before we get deep into it though, there is one argument I want to not have to defend over and over again: Traditionalism.

An argument I don’t want to keep making: Traditionalism & Ignorance #

I’m writing this at @292.78 on Day 132 of 12,020. I’m typing on a Dvorak, split, ortholinear keyboard in a markdown document using Arch Linux instead of M$ Word on Windows. I find music off the 12 tone scale interesting, and while I know 432 vs 440hz, isn’t going to open my 3rd eye, listening to microtonal or music made with just intonation is still something interesting to me.

Alright, so maybe I was being a bit cheeky. I don’t actually use that weird time format (though I do use the year part semi-regularly). The rest though, yeah. And honestly, it’s a lot of putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak. I think we live in a world that is unfortunately resistive to change.

While we as a species are creating technology that allows us to exchange ideas at a rate that was unfathomable even when I was born in ‘98, we’re still resistant to actually accepting that many of the things we do are rooted in ideas that just don’t really make sense anymore. We’re artificially limiting ourselves and our culture because we’re scared. Because at the root of things our monkey brains are shouting at us, “What we’re doing works! Don’t touch it! You might break it! Then what would we do!”.

Because of this, we’ve done a lot more harm than just causing more RSI from bad keyboard layouts or using crappy calendars. We reinforce values in each generation that are done because that’s how it is, from the prevalence of circumcision to the tenancy for women to get custody. I’m not even making an argument for or against either of those things (1). Rather, I’m trying to make clear that as a society we tend to have values and practices that are passed from generation to generation with no thought as to why we do things the way we do or how we may improve them.

This isn’t a position I will consider when defending other arguments. For anything worth discussing on the upcoming changes, it’s pretty clear that they’re important enough that the argument “It’s not worth the time and effort to change” doesn’t apply or it wouldn’t be worth my time to write about and I can not think of any other argument for traditionalism on the subjects I will be discussing that wouldn’t also be an argument under a moral framework that is similarly dismissable for their choice to root their ideas in belief over fact - such as Role Ethics or whatever a particular religion may say.

This is probably the primary motivating factor behind many of my political beliefs. In this section of OpGuides, various philosophical frameworks will be at play, often conflicting with one another as, unfortunately, I think the world is too complicated for one core idea to govern right from wrong. These will likely include ideas that support equality, drawing upon ideas such as Rawl’s ‘Veil of Ignorance’(2).

In general, I think this stance is quite literally the opposite of Conservatism in both the definitional and practical sense that we see it today. If you view yourself as a conservative I ask that you take a moment at the start of each page to at least acknowledge that even if the issue hasn’t personally been of note to you, to someone out there it’s such a big deal that an argument of “This is fine as it is” really comes off more as “Who cares?” which is offensively dismissive of things that may be of incredible importance to your loved ones, neighbors, and maybe even you if your situation should change.