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Yaakov's avatar

If the hearsay about young Macintyre is true, then he might be an especially good person to learn from. If he had major personality flaws when young but improved over time, his philosophy may have had a lot to do with it. A naturally virtuous person might be harder to learn from since they might not be able to express how to become virtuous, whereas someone who improved can understand the challenges we face better and be a better guide. When studying the interplay between the philosophy and life of a philosopher both directions can be interesting, how did their personality affect their philosophy and how did their philosophy affect their life.

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flo's avatar

>“I did a bad thing. A good person would not have done a bad thing in these circumstances. Therefore I am a bad person.”

>Don’t do that. It’s dumb. Good people do bad things all the time.

If your interlocuter is defining 'Good People' as people who do not do bad things in these circumstances, how do you have a productive discussion with them when your definition of 'Good People' includes "people who do bad things all of the time?"

Related: How do you know that good people do bad things all the time?

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