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Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 4, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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What is this kind of thinking called? The gist is "what my opponent should want (which is what I want) according to this value he says he holds rather than what he really wants." I also think of this as the "good republican" as written by aaron sorkin where his republicans that you like are only republican in ways he can agree with or at least understand and the opinions he hates are reserved to bad/stupid characters.

Examples (sorry if these aren't the best, but I think I show the logical twist):

"Democrats should be opposed to abortion because they think everyone has equal value in our society, even the unwanted and unaffordable children of the poor. (Alternately Rawlings Veil)".

"Republicans should support lots of immigration to push down labor costs so they can make more money."

I found myself drifting into this mode of thinking earlier in the gaza war ("Qatar should declare themselves opposed to terrorism and seize the bank accounts of the Hamas leaders because hey free billions and goodwill as the continued reasonable center of the middle east") and I was wondering whether there was a name for it.

Hidden premise maybe. In both cases one assumes: In the democrat example you assume they believe a fetus counts as a person (this is the crux of the argument for a reason among some.) In the republican argument you assume the motivation for money is the only and ultimate motivator for republicans.

Yet both of these seem different than the good republican example you gave of Sorkin's writing.