The Silent Superminority: Thinkers who don't make "repugnance" arguments

I recognize that nearly no one is making the argument for us to overcome repugnance (for example, by engaging in noncensensual human medical experimentation), but I've notice that some thinkers carefully avoid using repugnance as the basis for any of their arguments or policy positions. I'm going to try to create a list of such thinkers. Readers, I encourage you to help me in this. I think repugnance/eww bias is one of the biggest warpers of our collective decision making, resulting in greater risk of repugnant outcomes for many (if not all of us). At the least, consequentialists should be more concerned about that than I've seen expressed in the social discourse.

Comments

[Nick Tarleton]

Eww bias isn't the only conceivable reason to reject non-consensual human experimentation, you know.

[Hopefully Anonymous]

Didn't say it was. But please don't skew the coment discussion in this particular thread.

[Simfish InquilineKea]

Have you created the list yet?

Generally I've noticed that libertarian-oriented individuals who like reading Pinker and Dawkins tend to dislike repugnance arguments. On my part, I respect people the most when they don't make those arguments - so I respect Pinker, Dawkins, EO Wilson (who is more respectful of bioconservatives than people like Dawkins or James Watson seem to be), James Watson, Francis Crick, Herrnstein and Murray, Bryan Caplan, and Razib of Gene Expression.

[Simfish InquilineKea]

Of those, I'd actually say that Dawkins, Watson, and Pinker make arguments to overcome repugnance. Pinker writes about it in his "how the mind works" book and wrote the "stupidity of dignity". Watson is notorious for his anti-bioconservative comments. And Dawkins wrote an article about using Saddam for medical experiments.

[Hopefully Anonymous]

Simfish, you're a very welcome addition to the commentors on my blog. I hope you consider blogging too (or promoting your blog here if you already do).

[Simfish InquilineKea]

Oh, thanks for the feedback! Yes I have several blogs, but they're teenage-angst blogs that are probably too immature for the blogging community. I'm trying to create a more intellectual blog (http://simfishthoughts.wordpress.com), although its primary concern seems to be with rationality.