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Are we revisiting this again? I am asking why he thinks this is evil based upon whatever HIS moral intuitions/precepts/constructions. Just because I don't share them doesn't mean I can't understand them in other people.
I know people who believe all killing is wrong and I understand why they do and why they think that position is good. @Walterodim thinks (I believe) that someone who believes all killing is wrong is evil and I am trying to see what drives that belief from HIS perspective.
My moral positions don't have a bearing here because I don't share either his moral position or theirs, but I can understand theirs and am now trying to understand his. I am asking him essentially to explain in his meta-ethical perspective (as you put it) why he thinks this. The answer may be he doesn't know, which is a fine answer.
If someone tells you three is green, then asking them to explain why is three green is a reasonable question for which they may or may not have an answer. It just is, is a reasonable answer, as is because God said so, or because (insert 500 words about synethesia). But without asking the question I don't know if i will get an answer that helps me understand that person better or not.
You can understand someones meta-ethical system without having to share it. I am not asking to get closer to THE truth I am asking to get closer to understanding HIS truth. Because he is regular poster I get quite a lot of value out of reading.
I'm missing anything in here about how the concept "evil in and of itself" is a coherent thing for you to say or to request. I'm missing anything about what it means for something to be "morally defensible", and whether or not that involves concepts like being rationally defensible, determinable, etc. As such, I still do not even know how to parse your original comment, and nothing in your latest comment helps me in any way to do so.
I didn't invoke your object-level moral positions. I invoked your meta-ethical positions and demonstrated how they undermined the very language you used in constructing your position and questions. Note that you did invoke your own moral positions with "That seems wildly skewed" and "I think the position that killing is wrong is definitely morally defensible certainly an order of magnitude more than the idea that pedophilia is ok". You're not JAQing off here ("Just Asking Questions"); you're making an argument, but it's incoherent given your meta-ethical positions.
He didn't say that three is green. He said something else. You have the position that results in your question being akin to asking him to show that three is green, with the implied result being that if he can't make it "defensible" according to what appears to be an incoherent concept of "defensible", then his position must be wrong.
Because once again HE said it was evil. Thus HE has some definition of evil. Whether I have one or not doesn't matter. I am asking HIM to tell me about his definition of evil. I am really confused about how you seem not to get this point.
As to the rest, again my point is I think if you asked the average person if supporting pedophilia was morally similar to being against people being killed I think most would not equate those two views.
I am not making any argument about whether his position is right or wrong. I am saying I can't currently understand it, and asking him to explain. Which he has said he cannot do as it is just something he feels. I accept that as a coherent answer.
You always seem to be reading these as weird gotchas or that I am trying to prove people wrong. Simply read my posts and assume I am trying to understand here and things will make a lot more sense. I don't care if he is right or wrong, I care somewhat about trying to understand a mindset I do not currently understand. I like @Walterodim and think he is an excellent poster. I think his position is out of step with most people, but that is nothing new here on the Motte, and it is possible I am wrong about that.
He said that he thought it was evil. You asked him to show why it was "evil in and of itself", which is different than simply saying that he thinks it's evil. That's a question at the level of essences.
I'm missing anything about what it means for something to be "morally defensible", and whether or not that involves concepts like being rationally defensible, determinable, etc.
I don't really care either. I care whether or not you're actually acting consistently with your professed meta-ethical beliefs or whether they're just strategically-claimed.
In and of itself within his framework. And he could have answered no. Its not an accusation, its an exploration. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. But I can't know unless I ask.
There are a couple of issues here, one is that you think my philosophical underpinnings come in to play in surface level questions. Most of my surface level positions are entirely normie, even if my reasonings are not. You can't actually determine if i am holding my beliefs honestly or not from the vast majority of the questions I ask because I simply use the mundane, normal language I use talking to anyone. I am not constructing my questions, as if I am in an academic setting.
And secondly, why would it matter? Whatever the intentions behind my beliefs the question, it stands or falls on its own. If I accuse someone of lying, or have questions about their beliefs, then my meta-ethical beliefs have no impact on the truth of my accusation or the usefulness of the question. Play the ball not the man so to speak.
I'll reiterate again, the vast majority of people (including me, and it seems Walterodim) are not always constructing every single question, discussion or stance based upon first principles. I am certain some of my positions are inconsistent because of that. I have not interrogated every single one. So that they are inconsistent would not be evidence of whether I hold my positions strategically or not. Just that I like most people (as near as I can tell) are not perfect reasoning machines.
What exactly are you hoping to achieve?
This sentence doesn't make sense, though. Like, what does it mean?
I'm missing anything about what it means for something to be "morally defensible", and whether or not that involves concepts like being rationally defensible, determinable, etc.
As I wrote:
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