I can't help but pick at it though, being the contrarian that I sometimes tend to be.
If I lived in the American South in the 1800's, in what sense would I be me? I am a product of my genetics but also a product of the society I was born into and the people who raised me. I don't know the first thing about who this hypothetical alternate Dixie Fool would have been, so it's hard to meaningfully make any judgements about them.
The closest I could really state is that, if I imagine someone kind of like me on a very vague level, born into the south in that time in remotely comparable circumstances to mine, then I would not be surprised to find that such a person would have little real opinion on the matter at all and very much not be in a position to develop one to any meaningful degree. The question would not be particularly relevant to that person, I think.
Interesting thought experiment.
I can't help but pick at it though, being the contrarian that I sometimes tend to be.
If I lived in the American South in the 1800's, in what sense would I be me? I am a product of my genetics but also a product of the society I was born into and the people who raised me. I don't know the first thing about who this hypothetical alternate Dixie Fool would have been, so it's hard to meaningfully make any judgements about them.
The closest I could really state is that, if I imagine someone kind of like me on a very vague level, born into the south in that time in remotely comparable circumstances to mine, then I would not be surprised to find that such a person would have little real opinion on the matter at all and very much not be in a position to develop one to any meaningful degree. The question would not be particularly relevant to that person, I think.
Either way though, it wouldn't be me.