"As Bloom writes, when bias creeps in, we can’t even trust that our feelings of empathy are keeping us 'moral.'"
IMO, people often conflate 'empathy' with the voice of their conscience, which voice they tacitly assume is infallible.
But one's conscience is not one's moral guide. It is rather one's co-conspirator.
"If our concern is driven by thoughts of the suffering of specific individuals, then it sets up a perverse situation in which the suffering of one can matter more than the suffering of a thousand."
Yes. This is an observation that I've seen attributed to Stalin: "One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic."
"As Bloom writes, when bias creeps in, we can’t even trust that our feelings of empathy are keeping us 'moral.'"
IMO, people often conflate 'empathy' with the voice of their conscience, which voice they tacitly assume is infallible.
But one's conscience is not one's moral guide. It is rather one's co-conspirator.
"If our concern is driven by thoughts of the suffering of specific individuals, then it sets up a perverse situation in which the suffering of one can matter more than the suffering of a thousand."
Yes. This is an observation that I've seen attributed to Stalin: "One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic."