Thursday, July 20, 2006

You be the judge

In response to Ross Douthat's interesting comments on the argument de chickenhawk, I get into a less interesting argument with a fellow called "J. Bradford Short". At one point, he says I'm "self-righteous", which hurts a bit since I'm going for more the smug and condescending vibe. Anyway, comments addressing my insecurity are welcome: do I look self-righteous?

A Self-Promotional Update You Have No Reason to Care About: Figuring out that the ludicrous "Kantian nihilist" construction in Chris Muir's Doonesbury-in-its-senility-for-righties-with-T&A is evidence of Randroidery -- Pithlord! And I wasn't ever even slightly Randian, one of the few points of pride I can have in my adolscent political development.

Where he got the idea that Kant was a "moral relativist" is beyond me. Surely, if you have even heard of Kant, you have heard of the "categorical imperative." Even if you don't know what that means, it doesn't really sound "relativist", does it?

Actually, though, I think there is something illustrative here. For the jingoist right, a "relativist" is one who thinks there are absolute moral standards which apply both to our team and the enemy! In other words, to them it means exactly the opposite of what it means.

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