http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/08/picture-this-yo.html
"Opposing Sides Weigh in on Flying Fat"
by Dave Demerjian
August 6, 2008
Wired.com
"If there is even the slightest shred of evidence indicating that obesity is genetically determined, forcing fat passengers to pay more is blatant discrimination."
Frankly, this piece of reasoning is ludicrous. And I think it follows the same form of reasoning that a lot of people concerned with gay rights have fallen into: if sexuality is genetically determined, then discriminating against gays is wrong; if it is not, then it is okay. This completely misses the point. It represents the conflation of the possible (socially, technologically, w/e) with the normative. Even if sexuality is entirely a personal choice, gays should have rights. And even if being obese is genetically determined, if you use two seats, you shoudl pay for two seats.
(Allowing people who are fat enough to take up two seats to pay for only one is liking letting people with the munchies eat free at McDonalds)
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3 comments:
People are so concentrated on arguing about the minor premise (is X nature or nurtue) that they totally ignore the crucial major premise (if x is natural then ___).
That this is so is an indication of our failure to even realize liberal humanism, to say nothing of critiquing it.
What is liberal humanism, by the way?
Classical liberalism. But nowadays it is more often: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/liberalism/#LibTheSocJus. To get what is said in that section some scrolling up will be required.
What is relevant to the comment I just posted is the notion that there are rights that people have no matter what features they happen to contingently instantiate.
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