Means and Ends (Joshua Cohen & Glenn Loury)

[Florian]

Originally Posted by sugarkang

Exactly. And why do you think that it's okay to presume that someone is racist because he says, "Some of my best friends are black"?.

I have answered this so many times that I can only assume you are incapable of reading. When did I say it is "OK" to presume that someone is a racist when he says: "Some of my best friends are.....?" I have repeatedly said that it impossible to infer anything from such a statement, just as it is impossible to infer anything from the statement: "I deny that I am a racist." That doesn't prevent people from making false inferences--- because there are no facts, no objective, externally verifiable facts, to prove whether someone is or is not a racist. I could say, I suppose, I disapprove of people who make false inferences about what other people believe, but since it is impossible to know what is true and what is false in what people say about themselves, I might as well say, I disapprove of life.

In the case of a someone accused of a crime, however, it is not "OK" to make false inferences, as the American media did when DSK was arrested. It is wrong to believe that someone is guilty of a crime for which he has not been tried and found guilty (or innocent), on the basis of objectively established facts.

If you cannot see inconsistencies in your own logic, then I suggest reading again. It shouldn't be too hard, you know, for someone of your education.

You have not pointed out a single inconsistency in my logic. I said I would not reply, but as long as you persist in misstating what I said, I will persist in calling you out. If everything I said was so obvious to you, why do you persist in misunderstanding and misrepresenting it?