The Principle of Negative Responsibility

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You have valued, you say value the struggle for women's rights. It is part of your cause to fight for equality. Now, through zero fault of your own, you are placed in a situation where what you have to do is treat some women extraordinarily horribly in order that the consequences to most women be better. This was Harvey Weinstein. He had to sexually abuse all those women to raise consciousness and awareness. I think it is critical to understand that this follows directly from the principle of negative responsibility.

David and Tamler take a break from complaining about psychological studies that measure utilitarianism to complain about the moral theory itself. We talk about one of the most famous critiques of utilitarian theories from Bernard Williams. Does utilitarianism annihilate our integrity--our unity--as people? Would trying to maximize well-being fracture our identities, and swallow up our projects, motivations, and moral convictions--the same convictions that make utilitarianism seem appealing in the first place? Is it ultimately self-defeating as a moral theory?

Plus, we talk about the adventures of Tamler's based step-mom Christina Hoff Sommers' at Lewis and Clark law school. Will David stay woke?

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