Good episode! The question I wanted you guys to ask was: if fatphobia is really something analogous to racism, sexism and homophobia, and if it's structural in the same way, then isn't it morally wrong for people to lose weight for social advancement? Isn't this helping to perpetuate a system of oppression? Or take those before and after pics of people who have lost a tremendous amount of weight after a year or so. Isn't that upholding some oppressive structures? Isn't it leaving other fat people, those who can't lose the weight or can't do so as easily, in a more isolated position? I don't see how you can accept Manne's views and not think that there's at least a good argument for thinking that this is morally bad. She wants to say: "fat or thin--it's a life choice." But I'm not sure she's consistent here.
This podcast is a gem. Kate's philosophy is not---it's tired, insular, confounding, repetitive, protected, inverted, simplistic, and decadent: "We should be largely celebrating [people's] choices when they don't harm others." No, no we shouldn't. Kate is a modern embodiment of philosophy before truth, motivated reasoning at its finest. Her entire body of thought boils down to this axiom: If x affects anyone else besides a wealthy white Christian male, then x must be stigmatized, and if anyone else besides the wealthy white Christian male wants to do y, then y should be rationalized, destigmatized, and celebrated. To know her philosophy on a topic, just ask if the topic is antagonistic to anyone besides a white male. It also doesn't help that she's one of the censorious voices in philosophy. That said, I love the varied voices on Brain in a Vat, just giving my commentary
Being fat is not good or normal state of human body. It is also not a laughing matter. Being fat means you cannot move well, there is a serious strain on bones and joints, there are issues with skin, breathing, heart etc. I was overwight so i know. Now, being of average size, i am much healthier and i just feel bettet physically. And i have never been bullied. And my doctor was very helpful. And i had lost weight for myself, not to please others.This woman just spits fashionable buzz words. She is a pseudo scholar and what she says is incorrect.
"'We should be largely celebrating [people's] choices when they don't harm others.' No, no we shouldn't." -- That`s a perfect understandable, well founded rational argument! -- Jokes beside; even if an idea is provocative, I think it's not a good way to deal with it to just shrug it off. If you*re so convinced that this statement is wrong, try give yourself a reason why it's false. Then at least you could show why it's falsehood is true and convince other people (maybe the other side). -- Just giving my commentary.
@@smillabutryn7517 The argument is for the average case, not for every case. She did not argue that weight loss in a long term (over many years) is impossible. She did argue that there are reasons to be cautious for the general weight loss advice.
She is just lying about the state of the empirical research regarding the link between being overweight or obese and mortality (not to mention morbidity!). This is horrible and honestly morally wrong for her to mislead the public like this. Her initial point is ignorant of good clinical medical practice. It is GOOD for doctors to advocate weight loss for their overweight patients as this is in their patients best interest regarding physical health. Depending on the patients presentation the doctor may not have even been indicated to further investigate the patients symptoms, this would depend on the fine details of course. To claim that case is paradigmatic of fatphobia is foolish. Good medical practice is weighing up the risks and benefits of any investigation. A good clinician will make that decision with knowledge of the patients pre-test probability for some disease. To say it is fatphobic for a doctor to not further investigate some symptom is stupid because the decision to investigate it further could be reasonable or not depending on how the patient presented.
All else equal, being thin is far better than being fat in every aspect of life. Lost 110lbs on the carnivore diet, best thing I ever did. Just and we want beautiful buildings, & beautiful paintings, we should want beautiful people, everyone looks better when they aren't fat.
This is interesting, but I'd appreciate it more if the words "big" and "fat" weren't used interchangeably. There's a difference between being big and being fat. You can be big in different ways, and fat people can be small as well. More clarity, less euphemisms, please!
Given that a phobia is a kind of excessive or irrational fear, I don't believe fatphobia is even a thing - I don't know anyone who is scared of fat people. The plain fact is that many people just find fat unattractive. Including many fat people, were they being honest.
Being fat is unarguably a survival edge in -40C or colder environments. I have under 5% body fat and at these temperatures I need more insulation than most people around me or I would freeze to death. Interesting video, I am looking forward to your next topics...
