By Diana Hsieh @ 4:41 PM
It is a beautiful day here today, delightfully sunny and warm. After our few days of snow late last week, I'm itching to return to the garden. Instead, I'm stuck working on my paper on zoocentric egalitarianism for my environmental philosophy class. *sigh* If only I was a whim-worshipping subjectivist instead of a rational-teleological egoist, I would be playing in the warm dirt right now. (No, that's not a real wish!) Summer break will come soon enough... so just a few more days of savaging Peter Singer's utilitarian arguments for animal liberation and Tom Regan's deontological arguments for animal rights.
Unfortunately, I will have two school papers to complete over the summer. I've decided to take an incomplete in my Topics in Values class, as working out the details of my arguments on moral luck will take more time than I have left in the semester. Some of the arguments concern issues of moral judgment that I've not yet settled for myself, but will be investigating as I comb through the relevant sections of Truth and Toleration this summer. I also have a half-done paper from the fall semester on Aristotle's action theory, particularly on his view of the relationship between reason and emotion, to complete.
Since I am busy with schoolwork, I haven't had a chance to comment on the vigorous debates in the comments -- and likely won't for a few days. I particularly want to reply to Bill Nevin's challenge to the closed system, as well as make some general remarks on implicit sanction, scholarly standards, and engaging philosophical opponents. So don't think I'm remaining silent because I have nothing to say!
Update: I also hope to say a bit more on the general issue of Objectivism as a closed system, as my views solidified a fair amount after a lengthy discussion with a friend a few days ago.
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