Wilson wrote:The only reason we know the old lady hates everyone is that you told us. If she really and truly hid her true feelings successfully, how would we know what she felt?
I was following your own formula. The same applies to the 'racist' in your example. How would we have even known he was a racist if all we saw was that he's kind and generous to all?
Wilson wrote:All we can judge someone on is what we observe. But since you gave us a psychological profile, we are able to use that in our evaluation. Besides, as I said, there's no one correct answer to moral questions, there are only individual opinions, and as we learn more about a person, we may well change our opinion of him or her. I know what I use to evaluate someone's moral character, and word play will not convince me otherwise.
You might call it word play but I call it philosophy. Contrary to what you stated earlier, the exact details DO matter as I've demonstrated.
Wilson wrote:This is getting a little tedious. Do you really not understand my original argument?
Yes, it is getting tedious. Welcome to the world of subjectivity. I do understand your original argument, but I don't agree with it. It's an oversimplification of Human nature and interrelationships. I'm simply showing how judging someone solely on their actions is irresponsible. We must have the whole picture of why they act the way they do or we risk making lazy judgments which lead to false stereotypes.
Wilson wrote:Oh, and the contradiction in the description of the MMA fighter is that you said that he "loves all people and genuinely cares for their well being, yet enjoys ruthlessly and brutally assaulting his opponents in the ring." If you hadn't used "all" in that sentence, or if you had said that he "loves all people and genuinely cares for their well being OUTSIDE THE RING," I would buy it. I know that's nitpicking.
I'm assuming you're not a competitive athlete. Nevertheless, it stands that context, race, gender, social status, handicap, physical appearance, mood, facial features, tone of voice, body language, environmental conditions, etc., etc. all play a part in our interactions with other people especially when judging them. It's not really a "fair" circumstance but it is Human nature.
Your example was a "not enough info" oversimplification of a fundamental subjective Human psychological process that has evolved over thousands of years. You simply cannot break it down to a 'person A thinks this but does that' type of scenario.
The exact details matter.