Suppose that I'm thinking of stealing from Jones -- and you ask me how I react to a hypothetical case in which Jones steals from me in an exactly reversed situation. When I imagine an exactly reversed situation, I imagine a situation in which
Suppose that I'm thinking of stealing from Jones -- and you ask me how I react to a hypothetical case in which Jones steals from me in an exactly reversed situation. When I imagine an exactly reversed situation, I imagine a situation in which
Facts about Jones's beliefs and preferences can be important for how Jones ought to be treated. If Jones has moral beliefs about vegetarianism, for example, you may need to be sensitive to these in planning dinner.
There's no special problem in imagining a situation where you have different beliefs from your current ones. While I firmly believe that the world is round, I can imagine a situation where I believe that the world is flat.
Suppose that I'm thinking of stealing from Jones -- and you ask me how I react to a hypothetical case in which Jones steals from me in an exactly reversed situation. When I imagine an exactly reversed situation, I imagine a situation in which
So if Jones is actually A, B, and C, then you imagine yourself being A, B, and C. And if you are actually X, Y, and Z, then you imagine Jones being X, Y, and Z.
If you prefer, you could imagine a relevantly reversed situation, where you switch just the properties that are relevant to evaluating the act. To avoid controversies about which properties are relevant, you could imagine switched any property that you (or anyone) even suspects may be relevant.