tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post1297731138088808229..comments2024-03-27T20:37:09.185-05:00Comments on Alexander Pruss's Blog: Bestowing harms and benefitsAlexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-63946868557263009072016-12-23T18:08:24.544-06:002016-12-23T18:08:24.544-06:00The school provides education and certifies to the...The school provides education and certifies to the provision. Both are important. Compare how a rope manufacturer provides a product with a specified strength and certifies to that strength, and both are important.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-76893483395323251332016-12-23T14:19:34.263-06:002016-12-23T14:19:34.263-06:00I would respond to the statement about the teacher...I would respond to the statement about the teacher that the teacher has become corrupted, because the reason that teachers hate failing students for plagiarism is because plagiarism does not objectively merit failing. <br /><br />Obviously plagiarism does not significantly reduce a student's understanding, or even significantly impede it. If the student has a weak understanding of the material, they will have a weak understanding whether or not they plagiarize. So given that it doesn't make much difference to the student's progress in school, why should plagiarism be punished so harshly? <br /><br />The reason is that it is an attempt to steal status. But this suggests that the school considers itself in the business of allocating status, rather than in the business of educating. And that's bad, since schools should be in the business of educating people.<br /><br />Of course this is all immaterial to your general point, since it was only an example.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-3849174662850564042016-12-21T21:55:36.975-06:002016-12-21T21:55:36.975-06:00I’m not sure I agree that the virtuous person is u...I’m not sure I agree that the virtuous person is unhappy to be the bestower of justified harms. Granted, <b>I</b> would be unhappy to do such things. But I am not a perfectly virtuous person. And the unpleasantness of having to play the role of a punisher might be a consequence of my being aware of my own moral weaknesses, rather than a consequence of my virtue. For example, if I were to take pleasure in justly harming a criminal, I might worry that the source of that pleasure had very little to do with the justness of the action. “Do I just enjoy having power over others?” I would worry. <br /><br />Why shouldn’t we say, instead, that the virtuous person is happy to do what justice requires, whether it involves bestowing harms or benefits, partly because the virtuous person knows she can do these things well. And the fact that she knows that <b>she</b> can do it well makes her happy to take on this role. <br /><br />What would you say if you heard a teacher say the following? “When I first started teaching, I used to hate failing students for plagiarizing. But now, I feel completely at peace with this part of my job. I still find it unpleasant to realize that a student has plagiarized, but I also realize that the best thing for me to do, to maintain the integrity of the university, is to enforce our policy on academic integrity. And I wouldn’t hand that part of my job off to anyone else, even if I had the opportunity to do so.” <br /><br />I think it would be odd to say that a teacher like that must be lacking in virtue.SMatthewStoltehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06632670946997680263noreply@blogger.com