Posted by alexandra_k on January 4, 2006, at 17:43:20
In reply to Re: Astrology » alexandra_k, posted by AuntieMel on January 4, 2006, at 11:21:55
> Ok, for fun:
:-)
> are morals "facts?"
That is debatable, yes. I was merely attempting to illustrate that there are indeed non-natural phenomena and it is far from obvious that we can (or should) attempt to explain them naturalistically.
On ethical facts:
(a view that there might not be any)
http://www.trinity.edu/cbrown/intro/metaethics.html
On an attempt to turn ethics into a science (which requires the existence of ethical facts). This is a little odd... But I suppose it is trying to bring ethics into the realm of the sciences...
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10740
i am not sure whether I think there are ethical facts or not... i'm not much of an ethicist. but i think... there may well be...
> Well, I believe that:
> the Point and the Aim are thought.....Do you mean that as a gramatical point?
Okay...Lets suppose there are no ethical facts...
Is it wrong to torture an innocent child for fun, do you think?
(I mean, is it wrong for any person at any time and place to torture an innocent child solely for the purpose of having fun?)
If you think it is wrong...
Then *why* is it wrong?
If it is because it *is* wrong...
Then I suppose that would be an ethical fact...
So...
People are fallible and limited...
Just because there may be ethical facts does not mean we know what those ethical facts are (ethics is far from complete just as the sciences are far from complete).
And it DOES NOT FOLLOW
From the point that one believes there are ethical facts
To the point that what one believes is morally right or wrong actually hits apon the appropriate ethcial factsIf you describe candidates for ethical facts as a suitable level of abstraction then this does not rule out cultural difference either.
For example...
A utilitarian candidate for an ethical fact might be
'one should act so as to increase happiness for the greatest number of people (or decrease suffering for the greatest number of people)'
and that leaves it wide open that the precise act which will increase happiness (or decrease suffering) may of course vary as a function of culture...
poster:alexandra_k
thread:592960
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060102/msgs/595243.html