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All this is making me think about Ayesha's third question. I'm beginning to wonder just what kind of a principle 'treat equal cases equally' is. By itself it doesn't seem to tell us much. It doesn't seem to tell us to do any specific thing. It needs a lot of help before it yields any operational implications.

I know that some philosophers speak of different kinds of statements. Some are called 'analytic,' some are called 'synthetic,' some are 'empirical,' some are 'logical' truths, and so forth.

You all know that I am suspicious of moral generalizations; but I'm trying to play along here with all your talk about theories and principles.

So what kind of a principle is this 'treat equal cases equally?"