Is it wrong to judge how people behaved in the past based on today's morals?

Is it wrong to judge how people behaved in the past based on today's morals? Jul 17, 2018 12:07:59 GMT

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Post by Terrapin Station on Jul 17, 2018 12:07:59 GMT

Jul 17, 2018 12:03:33 GMT kls said:

Jul 17, 2018 11:59:51 GMT Terrapin Station said:

The reason you'd presumably care is that the reasoning you presented is that insofar as anyone is doing anything to anyone else's body, restricting it, or subjecting it to anything, etc., you said, "Who are they to decide?"

No, I said who are they to decide in the context of touching me or striking me. Not in the context of consequences for doing something to someone else.

Again, I'm not talking about anyone doing anything to you. People get arrested for all sorts of things. If you say "I'm not going through security today, I'm just getting on my plane" you'll be arrested (and most people won't be consensually arrested for that). I'm not talking about YOU doing that. I'm saying that's something that people are arrested for. And that person didn't do anything physically to anyone else. They just said something and started walking.

The reasoning you presented is that insofar as anyone is doing anything to anyone else's body, restricting it, or subjecting it to anything, etc., you said, "Who are they to decide?"

Arresting someone for skipping the security line is doing something to their body that they didn't consent to.

Well, who were those people to decide that they could do that (place them under arrest) to the security-line skipper's body?

That should be your argument if you're consistent and articulate in what your argument actually is.

That that is not your argument is my point. Your objection isn't actually "Who are you/who are they to decide," because you're fine with other people deciding such things in countless situations. (And that's pretty much the case for everyone unless they're fairly irrational, because society couldn't really work otherwise.)