michabo
reason, evidence
Mike,
I'm not sure where you're going with this. Are you saying that moral relativism doesn't exist? It sounds increasingly like one would have to be some egotistical, sociopathic anarchist to meet your criteria. It strikes me that, instead of dismissing this entire field, a more plausible explaination is that you have a misconception of the philosophy, or are drawing overly restrictive barriers. Any philosophical term is meant to convey information about a person's beliefs and not to dictate these beliefs. Are you unclear at all about how someone can not believe in absolute or universal morals and yet have a set of consistent moral beliefs?
I'm not sure where you're going with this. Are you saying that moral relativism doesn't exist? It sounds increasingly like one would have to be some egotistical, sociopathic anarchist to meet your criteria. It strikes me that, instead of dismissing this entire field, a more plausible explaination is that you have a misconception of the philosophy, or are drawing overly restrictive barriers. Any philosophical term is meant to convey information about a person's beliefs and not to dictate these beliefs. Are you unclear at all about how someone can not believe in absolute or universal morals and yet have a set of consistent moral beliefs?
Ultimately, yes. Mike Earle calls it the Platinum Rule: do unto others as they would have you do unto them. As we cannot know exactly what they would have us to do them, we have to use our own judgement. If they can tell us, that makes things simple, but if they can't I would choose to err on the side of caution. A specific catatonic person may enjoy having his fingers broken, but unless I knew for sure, it is safer to assum that he would consider breaking his fingers to be harmful.Mike Flynn said:And what about those who cannot make this distinction? Whatever someone else decides is harm, then?
I like Earle's Principle of Life Ownership. It seems to fit with my beliefs. I am generally humanitarian, compassionate and quite left-leaning politically, and this fits. As to why I should be this way, I don't know. Upbringing and society has influenced me, certainly. And unless you are using a very different meaning of relative (what are your sources, anyway?), I still think my beliefs are relative.IOW, why choose the one you have over any other one? When you answer that question, with regard to specific moral choices, you will find that your thinking is not really relative.
No, not at all. The consequences and distribution of tax cuts directly impact the lives of people in the US. I can see many good moral arguments for why a tax cut which favours the exteremly wealthy at the expense of the poor is wrong. I was trying to find an example which is not going to have people on either side demonized.But that is a poor example because it has little to do with morality at all. Its like saying 'I like the streets to be clean and my neighbor doesn't...we clearly have some differences in moral standard".
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