2018-06-19

IRRATIONAL APPEAL TO MODERATION

A rational appeal to moderation includes an explanation of why the more

moderate idea or action is preferable to less moderate alternatives. An

irrational appeal to moderation is offered on the erroneous presumption

that moderation is always preferable. Consider the issue of slavery at the time of the Civil War. Some people regarded the keeping of slaves as a moral abomination that should be abolished, others as a legitimate form

of ownership that should be preserved. The moderate view would have been to let each person decide for himself or herself whether to own slaves. (The slaves, of course, would not have a say in the decision.)Today no responsible person would endorse that view.

适度的非理性诉求

一个适度的理性诉求包括一个解释：为什么更多适中想法或者行动比缺少适中的替换选择更好。一个适度的非理性诉求提供了错误推定即适度总是更好的。考虑在内战中的奴隶身份问题，一些人将维持奴隶制视为应被废除的道德厌恶，另一些作为一个应该被保护的物主身份的合法形式。适度角度让一些人决定他或她自己是否拥有奴隶。（奴隶自然没有在决定中的话语权。）今天没有负责的人会支持这个想法。