If the boundaries of self are indeterminate, the inference from self-interest to necessarily shared flourishing smuggles in a substantive social ontology that requires independent justification.

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1 reason against

Reasons For

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Reason for

1.Indeterminate self-boundaries make it unclear where my interests end and others' begin, so assuming self-interest naturally leads to shared flourishing begs the question.
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2.Claims about necessary social interdependence require explicit argument about ontology, not derivation from indeterminate selfhood alone.
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3.Without justifying what counts as 'self' versus 'other', linking self-interest to collective good smuggles in undefended metaphysical assumptions.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against

1.Indeterminacy of boundaries doesn't prevent functional reasoning about interests; practical deliberation works despite metaphysical vagueness.
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2.Self-interest naturally extends to interdependent others regardless of boundary precision, since physical causation and cooperation are empirically observable facts.
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3.The claim conflates epistemological indeterminacy (we can't precisely define boundaries) with ontological absence (boundaries don't matter), which are distinct problems.
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Key Terms

Boundaries of self(as used in metaphysics and ethics): The dividing line between where 'you' end and 'other people' begin—whether this is clear-cut or fuzzy is the question here.
Flourishing(the positive state that might be prevented by MPS): A state of living well and reaching your full potential as a person; achieving excellence in how you live.
Indeterminate(Reichenbach's three-valued quantum logic): The value of propositions that quantum theory implies cannot be assessed to be either true or false
Smuggles in(argumentation and logic): Introduces something quietly or without acknowledgment, making it seem innocent when it's actually a controversial addition.
Social ontology(as used in metaphysics and social philosophy): The philosophical study of what social things actually are—like whether society, groups, or institutions are real things that exist independently.
independent justification(Epistemology of justification transmission): Justification that appears intuitively independent of the original justification for a proposition q; more precisely, transmitted justification for q that is additional and independent when three counterfactual conditions are met: the subject was already justified in believing q before acquiring the new evidence, remains justified during acquisition, and would have gained a first-time justification via transmission had no prior justification existed
inference(Nyāya epistemology): A component of epistemology in Nyāya philosophy; a veritable inference yields knowledge about the world and must have premises that are themselves known
self-interest(A motivation that Machiavelli suggests can align with the public good): A person's own personal advantage or benefit, what they want for themselves.
substantive(classification of linguistic forms by their role in expressing categories of thought): The linguistic form required to express thought's apprehension of independent objects

Connections

2 topics

Consequentialism1 linked Virtue Ethics1 linked

A person cannot conceive of their own flourishing without conceiving of others a...Claims about necessary social interdependence require explicit argument about on...

Details

Type: claim
Perspectives: 2 (1 for, 1 against)
Edits: 1 edit