Religion and Ethics Forum

Religion and Ethics Discussion => Philosophy, in all its guises. => Topic started by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 12:08:27 PM

Title: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 12:08:27 PM
Morality is in crisis with the route to the moral high ground looking like the slopes of Everest on a particularly Busy day i.e. crowded and dangerous.

Evangelical Christians supporting Trump
The secular moral project in knots over LBGQT issues
Richard Dawkins going Alf Garnett on us....... What is going on?

Science itself and possibly reason are blameless in this because they show not one scintilla of morality. Is moral relativism therefore equally innocent because it too contains not one scintilla of morality?

And isn't Evil the elephant in the room? Might looking at ourselves less charitably in the field of morals help us to get a better perspective?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 16, 2020, 12:12:25 PM
What is your definition of morality?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 12:36:39 PM
What is your definition of morality?
Moral Good.
What ought to be/do and what not ought to be/do.
Good and bad behaviour as opposed to just behaviour.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 16, 2020, 12:42:03 PM
Moral Good.
What ought to be/do and what not ought to be/do.
Good and bad behaviour as opposed to just behaviour.

So how do you tell if an action is morally good?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Gordon on July 16, 2020, 01:02:52 PM
Moral Good.
What ought to be/do and what not ought to be/do.
Good and bad behaviour as opposed to just behaviour.

This just a list of terms without definition: ' good', bad', 'ought to do', 'ought not to do'.

Since this is the Philosophy board perhaps a better place to start would be to consider these terms (and any others) with reference to one (or more) of the various philosophical approaches to morality: perhaps start with the one that you feel most closely aligns with your own considered position.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 16, 2020, 01:47:34 PM
Moral Good.
What ought to be/do and what not ought to be/do.
Good and bad behaviour as opposed to just behaviour.

People's idea of what is good and bad behaviour can be very different indeed. For instance, some  think it is immoral to have a sexual relationship with a person of the same sex. Devout Catholics think it immoral to use contraception.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 02:27:58 PM
So how do you tell if an action is morally good?
Is it loving.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 02:34:16 PM
People's idea of what is good and bad behaviour can be very different indeed. For instance, some  think it is immoral to have a sexual relationship with a person of the same sex.
Is it loving.

I'm reliable assured by those who purport to know that the gay sexy times most certainly are.  Equally I've come across encountered people who fall either side of the question when it comes to prophylactics...

That doesn't seem to stop many of the religious - particularly Christian and Muslim - mouthpieces sallying forth.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 02:38:16 PM


I'm reliable assured by those who purport to know that the gay sexy times most certainly are.  Equally I've come across encountered people who fall either side of the question when it comes to prophylactics...

That doesn't seem to stop many of the religious - particularly Christian and Muslim - mouthpieces sallying forth.

O.
So who is being immoral here? And why do you think it is immoral?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 02:47:49 PM
So who is being immoral here? And why do you think it is immoral?

Personally, I don't think anyone involved in the sex is being immoral, because I can't see anyone that's being harmed or restrained.  If all the believers do is express their individual disquiet then I still don't see any immorality involved.

If, however, the believers try to influence the civil law to enforce their beliefs on others via regulatory restrictions, then I see something immoral.

You?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 02:50:07 PM
This just a list of terms without definition: ' good', bad', 'ought to do', 'ought not to do'.

Since this is the Philosophy board perhaps a better place to start would be to consider these terms (and any others) with reference to one (or more) of the various philosophical approaches to morality: perhaps start with the one that you feel most closely aligns with your own considered position.
I think there is an initial point to be made before we get onto a more philosophical sociological and perhaps psychochemical approach to the question namely:

''Any fucking moron that bangs on loudly about what is good and bad, what people ought and ought not to be doing and comes on here with no concrete idea of why that is so or an at the end of the day it's all relative is a fucking moron''.

My own position is we should love God and love our neighbour.   
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 03:06:03 PM
Personally, I don't think anyone involved in the sex is being immoral, because I can't see anyone that's being harmed or restrained.  If all the believers do is express their individual disquiet then I still don't see any immorality involved.

If, however, the believers try to influence the civil law to enforce their beliefs on others via regulatory restrictions, then I see something immoral.
Why would you think it is immoral? What is it you are ''seeing''?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Enki on July 16, 2020, 03:07:26 PM
So how do you tell if an action is morally good?

For myself,  ideally, when I say  something is morally wrong, my first reaction is of something which offends my nature. The wrongness I feel might take the form of disapproval, disgust, abhorrence, even fear, depending upon the situation. I then try to assess the wrongness of the situation according to my values,( which may well have their origin in my culture and my upbringing). in as rational a way as possible(e.g. by trying to ascertain as many facts regarding the situation as possible or by  trying to consider in as  level headed a way as possible  the points of view of others.)  The result of all this is something which I would call my moral opinion. No god needed or wanted.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 03:11:01 PM
Why would you think it is immoral? What is it you are ''seeing''?

I see someone trying to restrict other people's behaviour without sufficient justification - they can't show harm, they can't show damage, they can't show any increased likelihood of unhappiness or long-term negative outcomes...

Again, though, what's your take?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 03:11:39 PM
For myself,  ideally, when I say  something is morally wrong, my first reaction is of something which offends my nature. The wrongness I feel might take the form of disapproval, disgust, abhorrence, even fear, depending upon the situation. I then try to assess the wrongness of the situation according to my values,( which may well have their origin in my culture and my upbringing). in as rational a way as possible(e.g. by trying to ascertain as many facts regarding the situation as possible or by  trying to consider in as  level headed a way as possible  the points of view of others.)  The result of all this is something which I would call my moral opinion. No god needed or wanted.
Do you think that which is rational is also moral?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 03:13:27 PM
I see someone trying to restrict other people's behaviour without sufficient justification -

Why do they need justification? what is immoral about not having it?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 16, 2020, 03:22:17 PM
I think there is an initial point to be made before we get onto a more philosophical sociological and perhaps psychochemical approach to the question namely:

''Any fucking moron that bangs on loudly about what is good and bad, what people ought and ought not to be doing and comes on here with no concrete idea of why that is so or an at the end of the day it's all relative is a fucking moron''.

My own position is we should love God and love our neighbour.

What is there to love about the Biblical god? It would be worse than loving Hitler or any other despot.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 03:26:08 PM
What is there to love about the Biblical god? It would be worse than loving Hitler or any other despot.
The greatest commandments of course love God, love yourself, love your neighbour, and love your enemies. Is God your enemy?(I can't answer that only you can) are you his?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Enki on July 16, 2020, 03:26:18 PM
Do you think that which is rational is also moral?

No, I didn't say that at all. I suggested that I would try to include a rational view as part of my assessment.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 03:29:23 PM
No, I didn't say that at all. I suggested that I would try to include a rational view as part of my assessment.
How do you think that would help you come to a decision on the morality of a situation?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 16, 2020, 03:31:01 PM
The greatest commandments of course love God, love yourself, love your neighbour, and love your enemies. Is God your enemy?(I can't answer that only you can) are you his?

It would be my enemy if it actually existed.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 03:31:39 PM
It would be my enemy if it actually existed.
Why?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 03:34:25 PM
Why do they need justification? what is immoral about not having it?

Because we have a Universal Declaration of Human Rights affords people liberty (Article 3) and freedom from 'arbitrary interference with their privacy, family, home...' (Article 12).

Infringing on that with arbitrary interference is immoral.

And, again, more in hope that expectation, what's your take on it?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 16, 2020, 03:34:48 PM
Why?

Have you ever read the Bible and seen the terrible deeds attributed to it.?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 04:15:16 PM
Because we have a Universal Declaration of Human Rights affords people liberty (Article 3) and freedom from 'arbitrary interference with their privacy, family, home...' (Article 12).

Infringing on that with arbitrary interference is immoral.

Why is it immoral? Yes there is a bit of paper but there could be a bit of paper that says it's ok. Which would be moral?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Gordon on July 16, 2020, 04:21:31 PM
I think there is an initial point to be made before we get onto a more philosophical sociological and perhaps psychochemical approach to the question namely:

''Any fucking moron that bangs on loudly about what is good and bad, what people ought and ought not to be doing and comes on here with no concrete idea of why that is so or an at the end of the day it's all relative is a fucking moron''.

That's a fair point: it may be that the person 'banging on', as you describe, isn't sufficiently aware of the various philosophical approaches to morality so as to allow an informed discussion. 

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My own position is we should love God and love our neighbour.

Is the the extent of your approach to morality?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 04:24:11 PM
Why is it immoral? Yes there is a bit of paper but there could be a bit of paper that says it's ok. Which would be moral?

Because we, collectively, as humanity, have identified what we consider to be moral, and that doesn't conform to it.

Still nothing on your stance?  Sniping from the sidelines still?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 04:25:48 PM
Have you ever read the Bible and seen the terrible deeds attributed to it.?
Mankind has several terrible deeds attached to it in fact we live in terrible deedsville some deeds more terrible than others. What I glean from the bible is the world was a kind of a  Garden and we wanted it to be different. I see no reason to deviate from those understandings.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 16, 2020, 04:33:30 PM
Mankind has several terrible deeds attached to it in fact we live in terrible deedsville some deeds more terrible than others. What I glean from the bible is the world was a kind of a  Garden and we wanted it to be different. I see no reason to deviate from those understandings.

If god exists it is responsible for everything that is wrong in this world, as it  supposedly created human nature.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 04:34:26 PM
Because we, collectively, as humanity, have identified what we consider to be moral, and that doesn't conform to it.

I wasn't personally privy or involved in the production of those documents and neither  were you. They may well have identified them to be moral but why? Not everybody is a signatory and some of those who were wish to opt out of this type of thing.

Not sniping....... just engaging in socratic dialogue.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 04:35:36 PM
Mankind has several terrible deeds attached to it in fact we live in terrible deedsville some deeds more terrible than others.

I think LR means the terrible deeds apportioned to the god, like the eternal punishment of some for the temporal 'sins' of others, the slaughter of the entirety of humanity except for one family, killing a woman for looking, subjecting a man to torture as a test of faith and the killing of the firstborn of an entire nation... the little things, you know.

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What I glean from the bible is the world was a kind of a  Garden and we wanted it to be different.

God made us curious, but not wise, then failed to secure access to a source of wisdom from the curious beings without wisdom he'd allegedly made then punished the curious humans for their manifesting the curiosity he gave them and not manifesting the wisdom he didn't give them... But hey, what was I saying about the problems that arise from equally valid interpretations of scripture?

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I see no reason to deviate from those understandings.

The Vorlons say 'Understanding is a three-edged sword: your side, their side and the truth.'

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 04:38:29 PM
I wasn't personally privy or involved in the production of those documents and neither  were you.

So far as you've revealed so far - feel free to correct me if I'm wrong - you weren't involved in the Bible that you're putting forth as an alternative source?

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They may well have identified them to be moral but why?

Because it's our best current effort at defining a set of rules that make people's lives better, as determined by the people who want better lives.

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Not everybody is a signatory and some of those who were wish to opt out of this type of thing.

There's a mechanism for updating it; is there for your source?

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Not sniping....... just engaging in socratic dialogue.

Once or twice is 'Socratic dialogue'; near-continuous use is sniping.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 04:40:11 PM
If god exists it is responsible for everything that is wrong in this world, as it  supposedly created human nature.
It isn't necessary to see it that way, I see it this way. It's like if the council gave me a council house and I'd trashed it up I could hardly blame the council.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 04:43:40 PM
It isn't necessary to see it that way, I see it this way. It's like if the council gave me a council house and I'd trashed it up I could hardly blame the council.

Except if the council told you that you weren't allowed to use the vlert, but only after you'd made your way outside told you that 'vlert' was the type of door they'd fitted to your council house, and because you'd broken that rule all of your descendants that would ever live were threatened with eternal punishment, even the ones that didn't know about the council, let alone the rule...

It's like that. Only worse, because you EXPECT local councils to be inept.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 04:50:21 PM
So far as you've revealed so far - feel free to correct me if I'm wrong - you weren't involved in the Bible that you're putting forth as an alternative source?
Where have I put forth the bible as an alternative source? That I think is rather in your head. Firstly the bible isn't the end all of the Christian experience. It doesn't hold the same significance as the Old testament does for Jewish believers or the Koran has for Islam. There is the law, the legal, yes, but there is also the sprit or the spirit of the law So now I am not putting laws arrived between peoples as an alternative to the bible or visa versa.
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Because it's our best current effort at defining a set of rules that make people's lives better, as determined by the people who want better lives.
But in terms of morality what have you got against those who think there lives would be better with slavery, Lebensraum, sweated labour, persecution, pogrom, apartheid and ghetto for others? Other than a bit of paper?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 04:59:34 PM
Where have I put forth the bible as an alternative source?

In your pushing Christianity, generally.  Not specifically in this thread, obviously, because gods forbid you actually take a stance and contribute rather than simply sniping.

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Firstly the bible isn't the end all of the Christian experience.

It's the start, though.

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It doesn't hold the same significance as the Old testament does for Jewish believers or the Koran has for Islam.

For your particular stance on Christianity, perhaps.  If you aren't referring to the New Testament, though, then what have you got... nothing.  You've got 'how you feel' or possibly even 'how you think Jesus would feel', which is still about what you think.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is just lots of people's accumulated sense of 'what they think the best of us should do'.

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But in terms of morality what have you got against those who think there lives would be better with slavery, Lebensraum, sweated labour, persecution, pogrom, apartheid and ghetto for others? Other than a bit of paper?

The collective wisdom of a humanity that's attempting to learn from those mistakes - which are mistakes because of the pain and misery they caused - and move humanity forward.

Given that your system (whether or not you consider to be dependent, reliant upon or merely vaguely interested in the scriptures) has both promoted and rejected each of these horror show that you've cited, but hasn't come up with anything clear on a code or way forward, what's your better alternative?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 05:04:46 PM
Except if the council told you that you weren't allowed to use the vlert, but only after you'd made your way outside told you that 'vlert' was the type of door they'd fitted to your council house, and because you'd broken that rule all of your descendants that would ever live were threatened with eternal punishment, even the ones that didn't know about the council, let alone the rule...

I've just about got all that. If you've mucked up your house, It was not the council housing department that sent the Housemuckerupper round was it? First of all the council have been sent a kind of a social worker who we can either tell to shove of or invite in.

Since you bring up the question of descendents? Will their environment and upbringing lead them to try to improve their legacy? Accept help? Maintain the house in the order the original ancestors left it in? Or make an even bigger hash of it ....keeping the curtains closed with a smog of fag smoke or even worse setting fire to the house or knocking down an important wall to extend the kitchen/diner?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 05:09:27 PM
I've just about got all that. If you've mucked up your house,

Not mucked up the house, used a part of the house for the function it was designed for, but against the poorly enforced and communicated wish of the council.

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It was not the council housing department that sent the Housemuckerupper round was it? First of all the council have been sent a kind of a social worker who we can either tell to shove of or invite in.

Your council worker is telling us we can either join his cult of homophobic misogynists (he isn't one, but his management team are implementing those policies) or we can still burn in hell because great granddad used the inconvenient door.

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Since you bring up the question of descendents? Will their environment and upbringing lead them to try to improve their legacy? Accept help? Maintain the house in the order the original ancestors left it in? Or make an even bigger hash of it ....keeping the curtains closed with a smog of fag smoke or even worse setting fire to the house or knocking down an important wall to extend the kitchen/diner?

Maybe - which bit of those temporal crimes are they allegedly being punished for?  Oh, they aren't, they're being punished for the 'Original Sin' of not understanding a poor instruction from a second rate designer...

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 05:13:21 PM
In your pushing Christianity, generally.
Your misunderstanding of Christianity is shocking for someone on a religion ethics board and yet I'm the one getting Dunning Kruger and courtiers reply.

Please read my description of Christianity. The Bible does not hold the same place in Christianity as the OT does in Judaism or the Koran does in Islam. In fact, the NT isn't official until a couple of centuries later. That is what you should be taking on board.
You see in those centuries there wasn't really a document to be pushed. Christianity therefore must be something different to what you are supposing.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 05:19:07 PM
Not mucked up the house, used a part of the house for the function it was designed for, but against the poorly enforced and communicated wish of the council.

Your council worker is telling us we can either join his cult of homophobic misogynists (he isn't one, but his management team are implementing those policies) or we can still burn in hell because great granddad used the inconvenient door.

Maybe - which bit of those temporal crimes are they allegedly being punished for?  Oh, they aren't, they're being punished for the 'Original Sin' of not understanding a poor instruction from a second rate designer...

We burn in hell because that's how we like it. That is why we get drunk smoke and set fire to the mattress so we burn and so do the kids.(are you beginning to savvy? vis a vis original sin?)

Also I think you are beginning to see yourself as more moral than God and religious people. Do I have you right there?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 16, 2020, 05:19:37 PM
It isn't necessary to see it that way, I see it this way. It's like if the council gave me a council house and I'd trashed it up I could hardly blame the council.

You are not comparing like with like.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 16, 2020, 05:20:55 PM
Your misunderstanding of Christianity is shocking for someone on a religion ethics board and yet I'm the one getting Dunning Kruger and courtiers reply.

You appear to think that Christianity is set and understood, and that anyone whose interpretation of it differs from yours is not really understanding; the reality is that there are almost as many variations of Christianity as there are Christians, and in the absence of much of anything actually verifiable most of them are pretty much absolutely unchallengeable.

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Please read my description of Christianity.

I've read it.  It sounds lovely. Look at Christianity in the world; it's not the same.

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The Bible does not hold the same place in Christianity as the OT does in Judaism or the Koran does in Islam.

For you it doesn't.  For, for instance, American Evangelicals it seems to be far more important than any wishy-washy sense of 'what would Jesus do'?

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In fact, the NT isn't official until a couple of centuries later. That is what you should be taking on board.

I know.  They don't care.

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You see in those centuries there wasn't really a document to be pushed.

If any of this is true, then that's part of the problem.  You'd think an all-knowing god might have seen that sort of thing coming.

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Christianity therefore must be something different to what you are supposing.

No, it mustn't, because it's not a logical enterprise, it's an enterprise collated from the collective fears, paranoia, superstition, wonder, charity, love, spite, awe, malice, anger and forgiveness of millions of people woven to varying degrees of looseness or tightness around varying translations of various edits of various allegations of one magician/teacher/demigod/prophet...

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 05:46:37 PM
In your pushing Christianity, generally.  Not specifically in this thread, obviously, because gods forbid you actually take a stance and contribute rather than simply sniping.
For your particular stance on Christianity, perhaps.  If you aren't referring to the New Testament, though, then what have you got... nothing.  You've got 'how you feel' or possibly even 'how you think Jesus would feel', which is still about what you think.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is just lots of people's accumulated sense of 'what they think the best of us should do'.
Yeh, I'm glad we've gone from ''humanity's'' to ''lot's of people's'' for the sake of keeping it real. What we shouldn't get into though is thinking that Christians are not humanity and these documents are necessarily atheist or secular humanist
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The collective wisdom of a humanity that's attempting to learn from those mistakes - 'which are mistakes because of the pain and misery they caused - and move humanity forward.
But we could be talking technology or intellectual progress here. Do bits of paper move humanity forward morally? Why, getting back to the subject, are they moral? How do they move individuals forward morally considering say most people who voted in Britain voted Tory, arguably the most toxic, immoral, pernicious and /or cowardly variety and those that didn't vote do anything to stop them and evangelical christians in America are supporting a man who is the most unchristlike person ever who thinks he's God( I think i've given clues as to that one to which we can add prosperity gospel,replacementism, dominionism and manifest destiny)
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Given that your system (whether or not you consider to be dependent, reliant upon or merely vaguely interested in the scriptures) has both promoted and rejected each of these horror show that you've cited, but hasn't come up with anything clear on a code or way forward, what's your better alternative?
Here we go. Christians are against international law?....I suspected we'd get there....given that there are lots of christians around, are you suggesting that Christianity has had no hand whatsoever in the formulation of international law?

In any case we seem merely to be at the stage where what is moral is only moral because somebody or a group says it is. Why is it really moral? And what role do you have personally in making moral decisions?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 05:52:46 PM
You are not comparing like with like.
Of course I am.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 06:05:08 PM


I've read it.  It sounds lovely. Look at Christianity in the world; it's not the same.

.
It certainly isn't what you've chosen to focus on Namely The Nazi positive christians, Prosperity Gospellers, Bible belters, televangelists and Lateran councillors of the 13th century.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 16, 2020, 06:13:21 PM
Of course I am.

No you are not.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Enki on July 16, 2020, 06:21:58 PM
How do you think that would help you come to a decision on the morality of a situation?

Even if I feel and think that I am correct in my moral thoughts in any given situation there might be important points which I have dismissed or overlooked. However if it was demonstrated to me that some particular moral thought or action of mine was wrong, then I would try to analyse why it might be wrong, and if then I was convinced of this wrongness, I would try to adjust accordingly. That seems to me to be a rational way forward.

How do you arrive at your moral decisions?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 06:25:54 PM
No you are not.
OK Let's do this your way. The world was comfortable enough to promote the evolution of intelligent apes called humans. Who is it who has brought the world to climate catastrophe? Who is it that has fought wars etc.? Who is it who has made species upon species extinct?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 16, 2020, 06:34:31 PM
OK Let's do this your way. The world was comfortable enough to promote the evolution of intelligent apes called humans. Who is it who has brought the world to climate catastrophe? Who is it that has fought wars etc.? Who is it who has made species upon species extinct?

IF god exists it is all down to that entity, by creating human nature it should have known exactly how they would behave. However, as its existence is highly unlikely it is humans who are responsible for climate change and all that is wrong in the world.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 06:36:24 PM
Even if I feel and think that I am correct in my moral thoughts in any given situation there might be important points which I have dismissed or overlooked. However if it was demonstrated to me that some particular moral thought or action of mine was wrong, then I would try to analyse why it might be wrong, and if then I was convinced of this wrongness, I would try to adjust accordingly. That seems to me to be a rational way forward.

How do you arrive at your moral decisions?
Sometimes I don't arrive at the moral decision. Sometimes I find reasoning doesn't help me sometimes I act on the spur of the moment because I have to. I find myself contemplating morality far more as a Christian than when I was an unbeliever and then it was chiefly others and not my own. I consider the moment I decided for whatever reason that something was absolutely and convincingly morally wrong and totally repugnant as an awakening to what morality entails and moral relativism had no answer to what I had witnessed. A year or so after that I had become a Christian.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 16, 2020, 06:45:05 PM
Is it loving.

I use well being as described by Sam Harris and Matt Dillahunty.
Once you agree a goal with regard to morality then you can derive oughts
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 06:50:24 PM
IF god exists it is all down to that entity, by creating human nature it should have known exactly how they would behave. However, as its existence is highly unlikely it is humans who are responsible for climate change and all that is wrong in the world.
Why does responsibility and action transfer from humanity to God in the event of God's existence. What would that even look like ? How do you think that might be evidenced? It sounds like you are proposing that the guilt and penalty should be shouldered by God?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 16, 2020, 06:53:03 PM
What makes you think the same decisions would not be taken if God did exist. Why does responsibility and action transfer from humanity to God in the event of God's existence. What would that even look like ? How would that be evidenced? How are you even able to make moral arbitration at all and in any case?

For myself morality is tied to wellbeing,  if you morality is not tied to wellbeing,  then I do not consider that moral.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 07:04:33 PM
For myself morality is tied to wellbeing,  if you morality is not tied to wellbeing,  then I do not consider that moral.
Well, it is, a bit, I think, perhaps, Be Rational but there are problems with this wellbeing thing. First of all it's so damn vague. Whose wellbeing are we talking about? And what about the wellbeing of the psychopath and sociopath? Can you expand on what you mean? 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 07:06:24 PM
I use well being as described by Sam Harris and Matt Dillahunty.
Once you agree a goal with regard to morality then you can derive oughts
Would you say Sam Harris and Matt Dillahunty are moral absolutists or realists?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Sebastian Toe on July 16, 2020, 07:17:55 PM
Would you say Sam Harris and Matt Dillahunty are moral absolutists or realists?
What do you say that they are?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 16, 2020, 07:21:45 PM
What do you say that they are?
I'm not sure Seb, do you have the lowdown on these guys vis a vis their moral philosophy?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 16, 2020, 07:44:47 PM
Would you say Sam Harris and Matt Dillahunty are moral absolutists or realists?

Who cares
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Enki on July 16, 2020, 09:03:27 PM
Sometimes I don't arrive at the moral decision. Sometimes I find reasoning doesn't help me sometimes I act on the spur of the moment because I have to.

I can agree with that. Sometimes, depending on the situation, I find the options to be finely balanced, and, sometimes, one has simply to make a moral decision fast.


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I find myself contemplating morality far more as a Christian than when I was an unbeliever and then it was chiefly others and not my own.

I have no problem with that at all. For me, I have no problem contemplating morality without being a Christian. Each to their own.

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I consider the moment I decided for whatever reason that something was absolutely and convincingly morally wrong and totally repugnant as an awakening to what morality entails and moral relativism had no answer to what I had witnessed. A year or so after that I had become a Christian.

Thanks for that insight. As I have already said, I don't have any problem in deciding some things are morally repugnant to me. For me, that entails only my own attitudes, which in most cases don't deviate from the accepted norm, as I would expect in evolutionary terms. For you, I assume, your moral imperative led to you becoming a Christian and deciding that morality was objectively intrinsic to your new faith.(Please correct me if I am wrong). For me, I don't see morality as particularly objective at all. I don't see any situation as moral/immoral, good/bad at all, only in the minds of the humans contemplating it.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Sebastian Toe on July 17, 2020, 12:53:02 AM
I'm not sure Seb, do you have the lowdown on these guys vis a vis their moral philosophy?
Nope.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 17, 2020, 08:16:05 AM
It certainly isn't what you've chosen to focus on Namely The Nazi positive christians, Prosperity Gospellers, Bible belters, televangelists and Lateran councillors of the 13th century.

You mean some of the Christians?  How awful of me to look at the Christians as examples of Christians, what was I thinking - who should I have been looking at?  Why should I ignore the examples that aren't convenient for your argument?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 17, 2020, 08:33:13 AM
Yeh, I'm glad we've gone from ''humanity's'' to ''lot's of people's'' for the sake of keeping it real. What we shouldn't get into though is thinking that Christians are not humanity and these documents are necessarily atheist or secular humanist.

Implicitly they are secular - in particular Article 18 on freedom of conscience, religion and thought.  I wasn't aware there was any implication in 'humanity' or 'lots of people' that it didn't include Christians.

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But we could be talking technology or intellectual progress here. Do bits of paper move humanity forward morally?

They are part of the process - documenting what we agree is the first step of collectively holding each other to account and building a basis for future generations raised with those precepts as the norm to manifest them more frequently without having to be watched to the same extent.  They don't move us forward, but they are tools that we are using to move ourselves forward.

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Why, getting back to the subject, are they moral?

Because that's what we've created them to be - we have collectively asked 'what's moral', and they're our best current answer.

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How do they move individuals forward morally considering say most people who voted in Britain voted Tory, arguably the most toxic, immoral, pernicious and /or cowardly variety and those that didn't vote do anything to stop them and evangelical christians in America are supporting a man who is the most unchristlike person ever who thinks he's God( I think i've given clues as to that one to which we can add prosperity gospel,replacementism, dominionism and manifest destiny)

Slowly.  You might find the Tories vile, I'm not a fan myself, but they are constrained by our current acceptable standards in ways they wouldn't have been only decades ago - the Shemima Begum case at the moment is just one example.  Evangelical Christians in America are supporting the Drumpfturd - but the moral standards we have in place at the moment afford them the freedom of conscience to vote for whom they want, and him the freedom of speech to lie to them and them to ignore the media outlets that call him on those lies.  Which of those elements would you like to see removed?

If we didn't have bad actors, like Trump, like Christian Nationalists, like the worst elements of the Tory party, we wouldn't need to be trying to build a coherent moral framework because we'd all be moral.

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Here we go. Christians are against international law?....

Some of them, certainly.  The more established elements of the Tory party - the bits that still like to describe themselves as 'the Church of England at home' - want to see us withdraw from the likes of the European Declaration of Human Rights because it gives people the ability to hold us to account when we choose to ignore them.  The American Christian Nationalists who don't think they should be beholden to anyone seem to pick and choose which bits of both domestic and international law should be applicable.

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I suspected we'd get there....given that there are lots of christians around, are you suggesting that Christianity has had no hand whatsoever in the formulation of international law?

Absolutely not.  I'd also suggest that Christianity is a large part, in some instances of why we've needed it.

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In any case we seem merely to be at the stage where what is moral is only moral because somebody or a group says it is.

Yep.

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Why is it really moral?

Because that's what morality is, a shared set of behavioural expectations and standards.

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And what role do you have personally in making moral decisions?

I have to make them on a daily basis, to a greater or lesser extent; do I work flat out and outperform my work colleagues for the same money, do I perform what's required adequately and have the extra time to spend on myself and my children or do I take the short term benefit of ditching work and spend the day doing what I want.  Small scale, partly practical, but also partly moral - and it works up from there.  What do I teach my children about gender, about sexuality, about politics, about foreigners, about people who are different from them but who live next door, about how to treat people they know, how to treat people they don't know, how to talk about people who are there or who aren't there...

I live in innumerable interlocking communities, and every time I interact with anyone in any of them - or, for some reason, choose not to - I'm making decisions that include moral elements.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 17, 2020, 08:44:42 AM
Why does responsibility and action transfer from humanity to God in the event of God's existence. What would that even look like ? How do you think that might be evidenced? It sounds like you are proposing that the guilt and penalty should be shouldered by God?

Yes I am if it exists and is responsible for creating human nature.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 17, 2020, 10:07:20 AM
I can agree with that. Sometimes, depending on the situation, I find the options to be finely balanced, and, sometimes, one has simply to make a moral decision fast.


I have no problem with that at all. For me, I have no problem contemplating morality without being a Christian. Each to their own.

Thanks for that insight. As I have already said, I don't have any problem in deciding some things are morally repugnant to me. For me, that entails only my own attitudes, which in most cases don't deviate from the accepted norm, as I would expect in evolutionary terms. For you, I assume, your moral imperative led to you becoming a Christian and deciding that morality was objectively intrinsic to your new faith.(Please correct me if I am wrong). For me, I don't see morality as particularly objective at all. I don't see any situation as moral/immoral, good/bad at all, only in the minds of the humans contemplating it.
Hi enki

Thanks for your reply which has left me with two or three thoughts.
Firstly I wonder whether the reasoning we are doing to arrive at moral decisions is moral reasoning or reasoning with moral truths about a real moral landscape. Something akin to abstract or mathematical reasoning perhaps.

Secondly when I look at the world, empircally I see nothing moral which leads me to believe that there is nothing moral in matter but that doesn't stop me from seeing metaphorically morality played out in situations sometimes where it is the key feature of that situation.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 17, 2020, 10:09:41 AM
Yes I am if it exists and is responsible for creating human nature.
So what are looking at? What penalty should be put on God? Would a trial with God in the Dock be sufficient?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Enki on July 17, 2020, 10:31:44 AM
Hi enki

Thanks for your reply which has left me with two or three thoughts.
Firstly I wonder whether the reasoning we are doing to arrive at moral decisions is moral reasoning or reasoning with moral truths about a real moral landscape. Something akin to abstract or mathematical reasoning perhaps.

Secondly when I look at the world, empircally I see nothing moral which leads me to believe that there is nothing moral in matter but that doesn't stop me from seeing metaphorically morality played out in situations sometimes where it is the key feature of that situation.

Perhaps it might be helpful if I try to explain how I see how morality begins.

I have suggested that a scenario is, of itself, neither moral nor immoral. It seems to depend on how we, as human beings, view it. For instance, on a personal level, someone who has recently been bereaved, might react with strong emotions to some particular action or object which reminds them of their loved one. This does not mean that the action or object has some intrinsic quality associated with this emotion, it simply means for that person it becomes a trigger to set off the emotion. For another person it may have no such meaning. Morality, it seems to me, is something like this writ large. By that, I mean that the vast majority of human beings react in roughly similar ways to particular acts, either with abhorrence or commendation, and we give these feelings the names morality/immorality because, by doing so, it encourages others to  react as we do.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 17, 2020, 10:35:26 AM
Implicitly they are secular - in particular Article 18 on freedom of conscience, religion and thought.  I wasn't aware there was any implication in 'humanity' or 'lots of people' that it didn't include Christians.
let me just get my New Atheism checklist Outrider........ Cultural impact of religion on morality airbrushed out of history CHECK
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They are part of the process - documenting what we agree is the first step of collectively holding each other to account and building a basis for future generations raised with those precepts as the norm to manifest them more frequently without having to be watched to the same extent.  They don't move us forward, but they are tools that we are using to move ourselves forward.
What has been done by a hopefully representaive group of human beings can be altered by it.....as we have seen in Britain where we are threatening to remove ourselves from this kind of legal morality. People voted forthis in Britain IN THEIR DROVES. So whose right? The Forty year old Blairite in 2000 who supported observing these rights and laws or the sixty year old Boris voter he has become in the intervening 20 years?

Again I am not against the laws but their basis in morality seems a fragile thing and a moveable feast
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Because that's what we've created them to be - we have collectively asked 'what's moral', and they're our best current answer.
then they turn out not to be terribly good or should I say aimed at at the little people since governments seem immune. They are also a tacit admission that we are immoral as well as morals and can't be trusted without these instruments on morality.
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You might find the Tories vile
In my unbelieving days I was one.,
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I'm not a fan myself,
but are you sufficiently not a fan?
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but they are constrained by our current acceptable standards in ways they wouldn't have been only decades ago
A few decades ago they wouldn't have got a way with suggesting herd immunity even for a minute. This level of death in care homes would be a national scandal. Now? A shrug in Bimingham England but uproar whenever american evangelicals do something in Birmingham Alabama. Talk about not noticing the plank in your own eye
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- the Shemima Begum case at the moment is just one example.
with all that's going on in our largely secular country and your focus is on Shemima Begum? Fucking astounding 
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Evangelical Christians in America are supporting the Drumpfturd
Here we go again....airbrush the role of christianity in the shaping of international law, focus on christians on just giving the bad things......what about the horrendous state of the largely secular UK which is nothing like the USA. It has the highest Covid mortality in the world and the people responsible for that are ten points ahead in the polls! And the best you can come up with is ''Not a fan''.


But of course, I digress. What is that makes your stance more moral?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 17, 2020, 10:52:31 AM
Perhaps it might be helpful if I try to explain how I see how morality begins.

I have suggested that a scenario is, of itself, neither moral nor immoral. It seems to depend on how we, as human beings, view it. For instance, on a personal level, someone who has recently been bereaved, might react with strong emotions to some particular action or object which reminds them of their loved one. This does not mean that the action or object has some intrinsic quality associated with this emotion, it simply means for that person it becomes a trigger to set off the emotion. For another person it may have no such meaning. Morality, it seems to me, is something like this writ large. By that, I mean that the vast majority of human beings react in roughly similar ways to particular acts, either with abhorrence or commendation, and we give these feelings the names morality/immorality because, by doing so, it encourages others to  react as we do.
I can't say that does it for me and why it's a bad thing to enforce rules on emotions and why it seems naturally right to impose laws to impose moral activity and make moral arbitration. In other words to use an emotive example, why is it right to have laws protecting minorities particularly why should it apply to someone when emotionally they don't care?
As I said for me moral realism is like mathematical realism or truth writ large.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 17, 2020, 11:14:20 AM
Who cares
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Well you are quoting them. If they are then I find myself marching some of the way in lockstep with them.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 17, 2020, 11:16:52 AM
So what are looking at? What penalty should be put on God? Would a trial with God in the Dock be sufficient?

A bullet through the head would suffice.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Enki on July 17, 2020, 11:46:32 AM
I can't say that does it for me and why it's a bad thing to enforce rules on emotions and why it seems naturally right to impose laws to impose moral activity and make moral arbitration. In other words to use an emotive example, why is it right to have laws protecting minorities particularly why should it apply to someone when emotionally they don't care?
As I said for me moral realism is like mathematical realism or truth writ large.

I get it that it does nothing for you.

I don't understand whether you think it's a bad thing or a good thing to enforce rules on emotions. Either way I certainly haven't advocated it.

Imposing laws on what society agrees as moral activity etc.(although, of course, this is always subject to change) is necessary for the smooth running of a cohesive society.

I would maintain that rights for minorities have come about precisely because enough people do care.

I appreciate that you are a moral realist but I take a different view. I have a morality which I try to adhere to.  My morality seems entirely consistent with certain evolutionary motivations rather than reflecting some sort of morality which has an objective existence. Thus I see my sense of moral wrongness/rightness  as depending upon my own unique characteristics wedded to group characteristics via evolution. Once I die, my own motivations and feelings are no longer in existence. I might well hope that others may have the same sense of morality that I had, but it would be of no relevance to me as I no longer exist.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 17, 2020, 11:53:19 AM
let me just get my New Atheism checklist Outrider........ Cultural impact of religion on morality airbrushed out of history CHECK

Do you have a dictionary?  Look up 'secular', it does not involve airbrushing either the good or bad influences of religion out of the picture, on morality or anything else.

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What has been done by a hopefully representaive group of human beings can be altered by it.....as we have seen in Britain where we are threatening to remove ourselves from this kind of legal morality.

As I said, there are mechanisms for making alterations - yes, there is the option to withdraw entirely or, as some nations have done, to not sign up to it at all.

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People voted forthis in Britain IN THEIR DROVES. So whose right? The Forty year old Blairite in 2000 who supported observing these rights and laws or the sixty year old Boris voter he has become in the intervening 20 years?

I suspect that you're referring to the Brexit vote - our signatory status on the European Convention on Human Rights is independent of our membership of (or departure from) the European Union - if I recall correctly it's a Council of Europe membership expectation, and it's why Brexit won't affect our ability to the European Court of Human Rights where it's relevant even if we've lost access to the European Court of Justice.

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Again I am not against the laws but their basis in morality seems a fragile thing and a moveable feast

That's the nature of morality - look at, culturally speaking, how quickly it's gone from homosexuality being anathema to publicly acceptable in the UK, look at how quickly racism has become unacceptable in most places, and equally look at how slowly gay marriage is being adopted in the US.

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then they turn out not to be terribly good or should I say aimed at at the little people since governments seem immune.

Which part of why that declaration of rights includes the right to take part in government, because it's recognised that the more representative a government is the better it tends historically to accommodate the range of different voices in its midst.

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They are also a tacit admission that we are immoral as well as morals and can't be trusted without these instruments on morality.

We are neither inherently moral nor immoral, given that morality is both situational and constructed.  We watch ourselves and each other because morality is a constantly evolving understanding.

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In my unbelieving days I was one,

And there are none so pious as the converted, right :)

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but are you sufficiently not a fan?

That rather depends on how you look at it.  I've never voted that way yet, and whilst I don't how things will change I don't immediately see any likelihood of it happening - but I'm married to a died in the wool blue-voter...

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A few decades ago they wouldn't have got a way with suggesting herd immunity even for a minute.

But they could quite easily have implemented different controls for groups; say, 'blacks only' hospitals, or banning women from the workplace (except schools and nursing, obviously) to keep them safe...  As it is, whilst some of the fucktrumpets near the top may have whittered about herd immunity at the start, by and large they've followed the scientific recommendations pretty closely.

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This level of death in care homes would be a national scandal. Now?

It's getting the media coverage, at least in the places I read.  We'll have to wait until it's over to see what comes of the enquiry that's been announced; they may be held to account properly, they may not - I'm not hopeful - but that ability of the powerful to avoid consequence is not new.  Blair over Iraq, the contaminated blood issue in the late 70's, it goes back and back.  I don't pretend we live in a Utopia - we are still building a better system, and within that journey there may well be steps backward.

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A shrug in Bimingham England but uproar whenever american evangelicals do something in Birmingham Alabama.

Whether or not it was right to relieve the burden on the NHS by returning the elderly to care homes is a far cry from mask-refuseniks and an administration publicly contradicting its own senior scientific advisor whilst he's stood at the podium.

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Talk about not noticing the plank in your own eye  with all that's going on in our largely secular country and your focus is on Shemima Begum? Fucking astounding

Should we be ignoring here because she's not important enough at the moment?  Is that the moral stance to take?  We've got bigger issues, she can forgo her rights?  She isn't my focus, but she's an ongoing case regarding the competing claims to certain rights that's in the news at the moment.

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Here we go again....airbrush the role of christianity in the shaping of international law, focus on christians on just giving the bad things......what about the horrendous state of the largely secular UK which is nothing like the USA.

I'm not 'airbrushing' anything, I'm highlighting what's probably the single most significant contribution of Christianity to the moral and cultural landscape at the moment - it's not my fault that it's a sand-paper coated dildo of a contribution.

What about the 'horrendous' state of the UK?  Which bit is an issue?  Where is Christianity riding to our rescue, where are the evil scientifico-atheist cabals dragging us to next?  Britain isn't perfect, we're still clawing our way out of centuries of institutionalised racism for a start in which Christianity and Christians have played significant parts in both the good and the bad.

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It has the highest Covid mortality in the world and the people responsible for that are ten points ahead in the polls!

From the context it sounds like you are talking about the UK - we do not have the highest Covid mortality in the world, that's currently the US, and we're also behind Malaysia, Brazil, India, South Africa, Mexico, Russia, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Iran, Philippines, Israel and Turkey at least. (July 17th 2020) https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus (https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus)  And that's before you consider that not all the nations immediately around us are measuring mortality in the same way - Germany, for instance, is putting a great deal of time and money into conducting formal investigations to try and establish exactly who is dying from Covid; the UK figures are a more easy reckoning of those who die with Covid, without going to great length to establish singular cause, which is likely elevating our count relative to others who count differently*.

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But of course, I digress. What is that makes your stance more moral?

Than what?

O.

* It does raise the question of why the government would seek to implement a counting method which makes things look worse; it's a surely unrelated fact, the cynic in me thinks, that the families of most people who die of a pandemic disease aren't eligible to claim their life insurance policies...
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 17, 2020, 11:58:49 AM
Well, it is, a bit, I think, perhaps, Be Rational but there are problems with this wellbeing thing. First of all it's so damn vague. Whose wellbeing are we talking about? And what about the wellbeing of the psychopath and sociopath? Can you expand on what you mean?

The psychopath  and sociopath are outliers a d  ot part of the group. We lock them up generally to keep them away.

It's not vague, morality to me is ties to doing the least harm.

What part of your morality dies not include well being?

Keeping slaves?
Women subordinate to men?
Stoning people to death etc all these are Christian morality
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 17, 2020, 01:10:22 PM
The psychopath  and sociopath are outliers a d  ot part of the group. We lock them up generally to keep them away.

It's not vague, morality to me is ties to doing the least harm.

Psychopathy and sociopathy are not outliers. They are key factors in getting on and to the top these days. As for locking them up, I'm afraid there are a few still
at large.

Since you just seem to be offering wellbeing and doing the least harm....thanks for your input.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 17, 2020, 01:33:54 PM


That's the nature of morality - look at, culturally speaking, how quickly it's gone from homosexuality being anathema to publicly acceptable in the UK, look at how quickly racism has become unacceptable in most places, and equally look at how slowly gay marriage is being adopted in the US.



We are neither inherently moral nor immoral, given that morality is both situational and constructed.  We watch ourselves and each other because morality is a constantly evolving understanding.

So when Homosexuality was anathema, was that right or wrong. If it was right then and wrong now will it be right in future? Why was the anathematisation of homosexuality right then and wrong now, How does the situation affect morality when it is after all just a changing situation.

When you say evolving do you mean moral progress? How is that measured?

It seems to me that morality in your scheme is almost indistinguishable from cultural hegemony, political power and social fashion. In which case where does morality actually come in? With all due respect to the wellbeingers and do no harmers does that mean that if we let others do harm we can still be moral? In our constant evolution of morality then what is it our understanding is changing about?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 17, 2020, 02:02:30 PM
So when Homosexuality was anathema, was that right or wrong.

That rather depends on your precepts - for me, I'd say it was wrong because it was an unwarranted infringement in light of the lack of any obvious harm arising from the activity.

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If it was right then and wrong now will it be right in future?

That depends on if we change the fundamental precepts upon which we make the judgement or if more information comes to light.

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Why was the anathematisation of homosexuality right then and wrong now

Because authoritarian laws and hangovers from explicitly Christian ideas of 'sin' were considered more important than individual liberty in the culture of the time - in my opinion it was as morally wrong then as it would be now, but I wasn't there growing up in that climate.

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How does the situation affect morality when it is after all just a changing situation.

In a constantly developing way - morality is not something outside of culture, it's part of the framework of culture.  As one changes, so the other adjusts to accommodate and vice versa.

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When you say involving do you mean moral progress?

Progress is a subjective claim - like biological evolution, it's a change to whatever's most suitable at the time, to try to make an absolute claim is fraught with peril given that the precepts of morality are subjective in the first place. If you take the idea of personal liberty until and unless there's demonstrable harm to be a reasonable basis for morality then I'd suggest that we've seen progress over the last century, yes.  If you have other foundational understandings you might take a different view; I suspect much of the Chinese populace, for instance, where compliance with societal norms appear to given much more weight, might think that morality has foundered in the last few decades.

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How is that measured?

If only we had a metric...

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It seems to me that morality in your scheme is almost indistinguishable from cultural hegemony, political power and social fashion.

Pretty much - it's the elements of those concepts that are explicitly concerned with how we should rather than necessarily how we are.

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In which case where does morality actually come in?

It doesn't 'come in', it 'comes out' - it's a product of society, not something impinging on society.

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With all due respect to the wellbeingers and do no harmers does that mean that if we let others do harm we can still be moral?

That's a question in that framework - some people would enact 'Good Samaritan' laws, others would value the personal liberty to close your eyes and not get involved as more important.  Personally I like to think I'd probably get involved if I saw something happening that I thought needed intervention - on some occasions I have (an old lady being accosted on a train late last year springs to mind), whereas on other occasions I haven't (I've walked past any number of individuals in London claiming to be homeless and begging for money).

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In our constant evolution of morality then what is it our understanding is changing about?

What we, collectively, aspire to be.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 17, 2020, 02:16:03 PM
That rather depends on your precepts - for me, I'd say it was wrong because it was an unwarranted infringement in light of the lack of any obvious harm arising from the activity.

That depends on if we change the fundamental precepts upon which we make the judgement or if more information comes to light.

Because authoritarian laws and hangovers from explicitly Christian ideas of 'sin' were considered more important than individual liberty in the culture of the time - in my opinion it was as morally wrong then as it would be now, but I wasn't there growing up in that climate.

In a constantly developing way - morality is not something outside of culture, it's part of the framework of culture.  As one changes, so the other adjusts to accommodate and vice versa.

Progress is a subjective claim - like biological evolution, it's a change to whatever's most suitable at the time, to try to make an absolute claim is fraught with peril given that the precepts of morality are subjective in the first place. If you take the idea of personal liberty until and unless there's demonstrable harm to be a reasonable basis for morality then I'd suggest that we've seen progress over the last century, yes.  If you have other foundational understandings you might take a different view; I suspect much of the Chinese populace, for instance, where compliance with societal norms appear to given much more weight, might think that morality has foundered in the last few decades.

If only we had a metric...

Pretty much - it's the elements of those concepts that are explicitly concerned with how we should rather than necessarily how we are.

It doesn't 'come in', it 'comes out' - it's a product of society, not something impinging on society.

That's a question in that framework - some people would enact 'Good Samaritan' laws, others would value the personal liberty to close your eyes and not get involved as more important.  Personally I like to think I'd probably get involved if I saw something happening that I thought needed intervention - on some occasions I have (an old lady being accosted on a train late last year springs to mind), whereas on other occasions I haven't (I've walked past any number of individuals in London claiming to be homeless and begging for money).

What we, collectively, aspire to be.

O.
Seems to me that I'm correct in my conclusion that your conception of morality doesn't contain much if any morality. Certainly the redundancy or capability of redundancy of the term morality is fairly obvious. Of course since we seem to have arrived at it, why are your precepts better than mine.....or to put it more correctly, why are my precepts better than yours?. Your scheme seems to have no real answer.

Anyway thanks for your input
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 17, 2020, 02:20:06 PM
Seems to me that I'm correct in my conclusion that your conception of morality doesn't contain much if any morality.

If you're looking for some external source or absolute morality no, but then I don't see that there is one of those.

Quote
Certainly the redundancy or capability of redundancy of the term morality is fairly obvious. Of course since we seem to have arrived at it, why are your precepts better than mine....

Individually they aren't, but then if we're only concerned with ourselves we don't need morality, we just behave as we'd like.  We only need morality within a culture or society, and then our individual take on it is better or worse dependent upon how closely it cleaves to the moral centre.

Quote
or to put it more correctly, why are my precepts better than yours?

I'm pretty sure it's not going to come to that.

Quote
Your scheme seems to have no real answer.

It does, but you'll have to accept that my answer is that it depends, which isn't surprising in a morally relativist system.

Quote
Anyway thanks for your input

No problem.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 17, 2020, 02:30:37 PM
If you're looking for some external source or absolute morality no, but then I don't see that there is one of those.

Individually they aren't, but then if we're only concerned with ourselves we don't need morality, we just behave as we'd like.  We only need morality within a culture or society, and then our individual take on it is better or worse dependent upon how closely it cleaves to the moral centre.

I'm pretty sure it's not going to come to that.

It does, but you'll have to accept that my answer is that it depends, which isn't surprising in a morally relativist system.

No problem.

O.
I'm sorry but as nice as an explanation of a term is, if it makes that term redundant then it isn't really an explanation of the term is it.

Similarly an explanation of morality which ends up with no actual possibility of moral arbitration is a bit of a non starter.

Anybody who holds with moral irrealism who under other circumstances would not support anything that isn't real purports to being moral is a bit of a humbug n'est pas?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 17, 2020, 02:47:36 PM
I'm sorry but as nice as an explanation of a term is, if it makes that term redundant then it isn't really an explanation of the term is it.

And how does it do that?

Quote
Similarly an explanation of morality which ends up with no actual possibility of moral arbitration is a bit of a non starter.

There's always the mechanism for arbitration, it's just that over time the balance of what is and isn't acceptable moves.  That shouldn't be a surprise, that's readily apparent in history and even theology if you place any value in that.

Quote
Anybody who holds with moral irrealism who under other circumstances would not support anything that isn't real purports to being moral is a bit of a humbug n'est pas?

I think you're suggesting that I'm ideologically a materialist (which I've already explained I'm not) and therefore don't have grounds for claiming any morality (which doesn't follow from the precept).  As for the pejorative 'moral irrealism' for someone who identifies the very obvious moral relativism that is a facet of observable history I'll leave that to stand for itself, I think it says more about you than it does me.

If morality is absolute, if there's a clear objective right and wrong and any relative system is just 'moral irrealism' and waffle how do you account for the significant change in what's considered to be sinful and acceptable between the New and Old Testaments?

O.


[/quote]
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 17, 2020, 02:56:52 PM

...
If morality is absolute, if there's a clear objective right and wrong and any relative system is just 'moral irrealism' and waffle how do you account for the significant change in what's considered to be sinful and acceptable between the New and Old Testaments?

O.
Just for clarity, moral absolutism has a specific meaning  that any action such as stealing is always wrong. In theory you could be a moral subjectivist and a moral absolutist - though I don't think anyone is.

You don't have to be a moral absolutist to be a moral realist because you could be a consequentialist and a realist.

The usual formulation that challenges moral realism is antirealism.

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 17, 2020, 05:55:16 PM


There's always the mechanism for arbitration
Really since moral arbitration is akin to this years pantomime isn't it the person with the craziest wig who gets to choose what's IN and what's out this year?

In other words on what authority does arbitration occur?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 17, 2020, 08:28:44 PM
Really since moral arbitration is akin to this years pantomime isn't it the person with the craziest wig who gets to choose what's IN and what's out this year?

You're the advocate for the silly hat people telling us why shellfish aren't as much of a problem now as they used to be, I suppose the calm, reasoned consideration of experienced judges probably seems a bit 'off the wall' for you.

Quote
In other words on what authority does arbitration occur?

The authority of the populace that, directly or indirectly, appoints them to the post.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Steve H on July 17, 2020, 11:17:33 PM
So how do you tell if an action is morally good?
If it leads, or can be expected to lead, to an increase in general happiness. Rule-utilitarianism is the only ethical theory that makes sense.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 18, 2020, 12:04:42 AM
If it leads, or can be expected to lead, to an increase in general happiness. Rule-utilitarianism is the only ethical theory that makes sense.

Yes as I said wellbeing.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 18, 2020, 12:12:50 AM
You're the advocate for the silly hat people telling us why shellfish aren't as much of a problem now as they used to be, I suppose the calm, reasoned consideration of experienced judges probably seems a bit 'off the wall' for you.

The authority of the populace that, directly or indirectly, appoints them to the post.

O.
Don't you think there are problems equating the Law with morality?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 18, 2020, 09:26:56 AM
Yes as I said wellbeing.
Firstly Do we know what is good for us? For example it was thought industrial wealth and consumerism was progress only to find we had severely caned the ecosystem and our environment plus we suffer from diseases of overindulgence.

Secondly Given that people often don't know what is good for them there is a temptation for certain folks to know what is good for them and enforce it as well as those who know what is good for themselves who get to enforce it. At the moment that is often the billionaire technocrat.

So, BR. What does well being look like? who's going to decide it? who is going to enforce it?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: ekim on July 18, 2020, 09:56:55 AM
There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbours sympathised with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"

Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck?  Who knows?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 18, 2020, 10:09:11 AM
There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbours sympathised with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"


Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck?  Who knows?
Good story, but I notice nobody does or commits anything in it, it is things happening to them. There is a moral to the story but is there any morality in the story.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Steve H on July 18, 2020, 10:19:54 AM
Firstly Do we know what is good for us? For example it was thought industrial wealth and consumerism was progress only to find we had severely caned the ecosystem and our environment plus we suffer from diseases of overindulgence.

Secondly Given that people often don't know what is good for them there is a temptation for certain folks to know what is good for them and enforce it as well as those who know what is good for themselves who get to enforce it. At the moment that is often the billionaire technocrat.

So, BR. What does well being look like? who's going to decide it? who is going to enforce it?
OK, so we have imperfect knowledge and wisdom, and may get it wrong: but what else, other than wellbeing/happiness, should we aim at? At least if we're aiming at that, we might hit it at least some of the time.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Bramble on July 18, 2020, 10:45:01 AM
Good story, but I notice nobody does or commits anything in it, it is things happening to them. There is a moral to the story but is there any morality in the story.

The story seems to be making the point that it can be difficult to know what's good or bad. It can depend on perspective. Your good may be my bad today but tomorrow that might reverse. How often do we really know what's for the best? Do we even know why we make the moral choices we do? What makes me different from you in these respects depends surely on a constellation of things that have happened to each of us historically, so is there such a difference between what I do and what happens to me? How much of our cherished belief in moral agency is just a rationalisation after the fact?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 18, 2020, 11:14:17 AM
OK, so we have imperfect knowledge and wisdom, and may get it wrong: but what else, other than wellbeing/happiness, should we aim at? At least if we're aiming at that, we might hit it at least some of the time.
I'm wondering whether happiness and well being could conflict with morality.
Could we get into a position where we could say....yes we can increase happiness in this situation but ought we.

Secondly wellbeing sounds good. Are we all on the same page? Not that I'm claiming wellbeing equals morality. Others are saying it.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 18, 2020, 11:18:14 AM
The story seems to be making the point that it can be difficult to know what's good or bad. It can depend on perspective. Your good may be my bad today but tomorrow that might reverse. How often do we really know what's for the best? Do we even know why we make the moral choices we do? What makes me different from you in these respects depends surely on a constellation of things that have happened to each of us historically, so is there such a difference between what I do and what happens to me? How much of our cherished belief in moral agency is just a rationalisation after the fact?
You are right in that hindsight makes prophets of us all. But is the honest mistake morality? Going into something knowing or damning the consequences for a knowingly short term fix sounds more in the realm of morality.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Steve H on July 18, 2020, 11:25:11 AM
I'm wondering whether happiness and well being could conflict with morality.
Could we get into a position where we could say....yes we can increase happiness in this situation but ought we.

No and no. don't be silly. Increasing happiness is the only purpose of morality, so there is no conceivable situation in which it would be wrong to increase general happiness (not necessarily my happiness: it might be necessary for me to sacrifice my life if that will lead to a net increase in happiness).
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 18, 2020, 11:51:48 AM
No and no. don't be silly. Increasing happiness is the only purpose of morality, so there is no conceivable situation in which it would be wrong to increase general happiness (not necessarily my happiness: it might be necessary for me to sacrifice my life if that will lead to a net increase in happiness).
Forgive me but your unhappy conclusion at the end isn't doing much for my conception of happiness. What does general happiness look like and why have I got the Bee Gees "I started a joke" going on in my head.



Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Steve H on July 18, 2020, 12:12:29 PM
Forgive me but your unhappy conclusion at the end isn't doing much for my conception of happiness. What does general happiness look like and why have I got the Bee Gees "I started a joke" going on in my head.
What do you suggest as an alternative for morality to seek to promote?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 18, 2020, 03:07:55 PM
What do you suggest as an alternative for morality to seek to promote?
Before I answer that I'm not sure either yourself nor Be Rational have sufficiently "De vagued" either well being or happiness. Now if you can explain how morality is effective for them rather than just a redundant idea you may very well achieve that.

What is morality there to promote if not happiness? HOW ABOUT ITSELF?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Dicky Underpants on July 18, 2020, 04:53:58 PM
Before I answer that I'm not sure either yourself nor Be Rational have sufficiently "De vagued" either well being or happiness. Now if you can explain how morality is effective for them rather than just a redundant idea you may very well achieve that.

What is morality there to promote if not happiness? HOW ABOUT ITSELF?
I think WM was using 'morality there to promote' as a figure of speech i.e. we employ morality to promote something
You seem to be granting morality some  active agency of its own. Sounds nonsensical to me "morality promotes morality". Even "humans engage in moral acts to promote morality" doesn't make much sense.
Utilitarianism will do; like democracy it's the lesser of several evils.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 18, 2020, 06:54:54 PM
I think WM was using 'morality there to promote' as a figure of speech i.e. we employ morality to promote something
You seem to be granting morality some  active agency of its own. Sounds nonsensical to me "morality promotes morality". Even "humans engage in moral acts to promote morality" doesn't make much sense.
Utilitarianism will do; like democracy it's the lesser of several evils.
I think I mean morality for the sake of its self. Morality put to the service of something certainly doesn't make sense and yet here you are suggesting it.

If there is a moral realism then it can be enjoyed for it's own sake like mathematical realism. The whole universe apart from intelligent and conscious entities tend not to be subject or privy to it and of course it is related to the personal.
In terms of things being lesser evils that suggests a scale and a spectrum with absolute good at one end and absolute evil at the other end. .....Do you wish therefore to retract?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 19, 2020, 12:22:14 AM
Before I answer that I'm not sure either yourself nor Be Rational have sufficiently "De vagued" either well being or happiness. Now if you can explain how morality is effective for them rather than just a redundant idea you may very well achieve that.

What is morality there to promote if not happiness? HOW ABOUT ITSELF?

Its  ot vague.
Where  do you get your morality from.
Dont tell me the bible!
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 12:31:05 AM
Its  ot vague.
Where  do you get your morality from.
Dont tell me the bible!
Presumably if we have any of the good stuff we all get it from the same place.
Talk a bit about well-being........what Do you mean?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 19, 2020, 01:15:38 AM
Presumably if we have any of the good stuff we all get it from the same place.
Talk a bit about well-being........what Do you mean?

If you do  not use well being where do you get your morality  from.

It cannot be the  bible and I think I can demonstrate that, so where does your morality come from?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Steve H on July 19, 2020, 06:44:03 AM

What is morality there to promote if not happiness? HOW ABOUT ITSELF?
That is complete and utter nonsense, even by your standards. Morality refers beyond itself, or it is nothing.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 08:01:52 AM
That is complete and utter nonsense, even by your standards. Morality refers beyond itself, or it is nothing.
It may refer beyond itself but to what and where and then if those thing it refers to actually make it a redundant term, then what? I’m not saying your wrong, I just want a couple of examples. It seems to me that well-being and happiness could be pursued themselves.

Another thing is, shouldn’t it be things referring to morality, not the other way around?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 08:10:56 AM
If you do  not use well being where do you get your morality  from.
Shouldn’t morality come before well being.
Quote

It cannot be the  bible and I think I can demonstrate that, so where does your morality come from?
It might be partly the Bible and in a way extra to the morality all westerners get from the bible by dint of cultural heritage. But yes, If you think it does not please demonstrate. I think I get morality by way of it being a conduit from the real source.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 09:56:29 AM
Wonders to self has Vlad's answered Floo's question in the second post with a coherent answer. Reads thread. Sees he has not. Is unsurprised.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 10:40:26 AM
Wonders to self has Vlad's answered Floo's question in the second post with a coherent answer. Reads thread. Sees he has not. Is unsurprised.
Reply 3
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 10:45:29 AM
Reply 3
Fails to be a coherent answer.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 10:51:14 AM
Fails to be a coherent answer.
In a plethora of answers to morality that effectively make the term morality redundant you have to alight on my answer.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 10:57:10 AM
In a plethora of answers to morality that effectively make the term morality redundant you have to alight on my answer.
Apart from the whataboutery here, any other answers not being good make no difference to the lack of coherence of your answer.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 11:10:11 AM
Apart from the whataboutery here, any other answers not being good make no difference to the lack of coherence of your answer.
Morality is what we ought to do. What is incoherent about that?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 11:26:37 AM
Morality is what we ought to do. What is incoherent about that?
So ought I to have rolls or sliced bread for breakfast?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 11:31:51 AM
So ought I to have rolls or sliced bread for breakfast?
Yes.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Stranger on July 19, 2020, 11:32:35 AM
Morality is what we ought to do. What is incoherent about that?

That's very, very silly, even for you...
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 11:33:39 AM
That's very, very silly, even for you...
What is silly about it?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 11:35:40 AM
So ought I to have rolls or sliced bread for breakfast?
If there is not an ought not attached to this then yes ....either or both.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Stranger on July 19, 2020, 11:38:43 AM
What is silly about it?

It's a pointless, useless, and circular.

How do we decide what we ought to do?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 11:42:51 AM
It's a pointless, useless, and circular.

How do we decide what we ought to do?
Ah so it IS what we ought to do.
How do we decide? Moral reasoning.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Stranger on July 19, 2020, 11:44:33 AM
Ah so it IS what we ought to do.
How do we decide? Moral reasoning.

What are you asking me for? You're the one who said you had an answer.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 11:53:18 AM
What are you asking me for? You're the one who said you had an answer.
I’m just recapping your question then answering. We decide using moral reasoning.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Stranger on July 19, 2020, 11:59:22 AM
I’m just recapping your question then answering. We decide using moral reasoning.

Okay, misread that. So morality is what we ought to do and we decide what we ought to do using "moral reasoning", so it's circular, as I said.

You still haven't told us anything useful or coherent about morality, let alone provided an answer.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 12:30:14 PM
If there is not an ought not attached to this then yes ....either or both.
So how is it decided whether an 'ought' is attached? That's where your answer was not coherent.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 01:17:08 PM
I’m just recapping your question then answering. We decide using moral reasoning.
Can you explain what you think 'moral reasoning' is, and how it works? A worked example would be good.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 01:19:53 PM
Okay, misread that. So morality is what we ought to do and we decide what we ought to do using "moral reasoning", so it's circular, as I said.

You still haven't told us anything useful or coherent about morality, let alone provided an answer.
Neither has any body else. I on the other hand have retained the idea of morality by introducing lights and ought nots. That’s why nearly Sane came unstuck with his should I have toast or rolls. Since there is no should not it is not a moral issue.

Moral reasoning is not just reasoning but reason which is based on a moral reality in which we all move. So if we are incompetent at it it is Moral incompetence rather than just incompetence. So the most erudite, gifted, charismatic, intelligent of us could also be the most morally incompetent.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 01:24:38 PM
Neither has any body else. I on the other hand have retained the idea of morality by introducing lights and ought nots. That’s why nearly Sane came unstuck with his should I have toast or rolls. Since there is no should not it is not a moral issue.

Moral reasoning is not just reasoning but reason which is based on a moral reality in which we all move. So if we are incompetent at it it is Moral incompetence rather than just incompetence. So the most erudite, gifted, charismatic, intelligent of us could also be the most morally incompetent.
You do know you actually need to demonstrate if someone has 'come unstuck' rather than just assert it, don't you? I did ask how you determine what a moral question is but so far no answer. So you can do it in reply. Or rather it is possible for someone to attempt to do so. You mebbes not so much.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 01:32:41 PM
Can you explain what you think 'moral reasoning' is, and how it works? A worked example would be good.
So how is it decided whether an 'ought' is attached? That's where your answer was not coherent.
Our conscience decides namely the faculty which detects the moral landscape. No moral landscape no morality........Morality is a redundant term in any other scenario.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 01:36:09 PM
Our conscience decides namely the faculty which detects the moral landscape. No moral landscape no morality........Morality is a redundant term in any other scenario.
This is just introducing more undefined terms and assertions. Even for my very low expectations, you managed to effortlessly limbo dance under them.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 01:45:52 PM
This is just introducing more undefined terms and assertions. Even for my very low expectations, you managed to effortlessly limbo dance under them.
That if you like and even if you don’t like is bollocks.
Any other explanation of morality leaves the term morality redundant. Any explanation that leaves it intact is better than one which makes it redundant.

So there is a moral reality or the whole thing is effectively just arsepull of the type you wouldn’t even dream of engaging with if it was just ordinary reasoning which was involved.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Stranger on July 19, 2020, 02:28:37 PM
Our conscience decides namely the faculty which detects the moral landscape. No moral landscape no morality........Morality is a redundant term in any other scenario.

More useless waffle. If we have a faculty that can "detect" a moral landscape, then why do people fundamentally disagree about it? If they do disagree, how do we decide who is right?

You seem to be trying to assert the objective reality of morality but in a totally useless way. Even if objective morality exists, it might as well not exist if we have no reliable way to access it.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 03:48:43 PM
That if you like and even if you don’t like is bollocks.
Any other explanation of morality leaves the term morality redundant. Any explanation that leaves it intact is better than one which makes it redundant.

So there is a moral reality or the whole thing is effectively just arsepull of the type you wouldn’t even dream of engaging with if it was just ordinary reasoning which was involved.
an incoherent explanation is worthless. Your use of 'redundant' here is unexplained and not a normal term in this context so your sentences using it are in no sense coherent.


Your second paragraph is an empty assertion.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 05:31:28 PM
If we have a faculty that can "detect" a moral landscape, then why do people fundamentally disagree about it? If they do disagree, how do we decide who is right?
Well let's run with with your contention that people fundementally disagree about it and put that up against two arguments used against moral realism. 1) That Humans reach a moral concensus the triumph of which has already been spelt out by Outrider earlier in this thread.
If people fundamentally disagree. How is it possible to reach ANY consensus let alone international law? Secondly the only people who seem to buck consensus on wellbeing, according to Be Rational are 'Outliers' and these people are socio and psychopathic.

Now out of yours or there views I tend to side with them and say there is no fundamental disagreement about what is good or bad on a lot of what the basic commandments or laws should be.
Quote
You seem to be trying to assert the objective reality of morality but in a totally useless way. Even if objective morality exists, it might as well not exist if we have no reliable way to access it.
But doubtless you will be crossing your fingers that the subjective morality of people broadly is intersubjective between a majority of actors who aren't fundamentally disagreeing on what is right and wrong.
I think we should and do go thermostatic on morality never seemingly capable of resting on the true moral point to enjoy it but always trying to find it/return to it.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 05:43:19 PM
an incoherent explanation is worthless. Your use of 'redundant' here is unexplained and not a normal term in this context so your sentences using it are in no sense coherent.


Your second paragraph is an empty assertion.
The term redundant is used to refer to the phrase Moral behaviour as properly understood in say empiricism and naturalism. Since all we can do effectively is observe behaviour and anything like any capacity to detect a moral landscape is rejected then the word moral here is meaningless and a mere label. So in a phrase like moral behaviour the ''moral'' part is unnecessary and therefore redundant because of the sufficiency of the term behaviour.

Since no self respecting materialist, empiricist, naturalist would tolerate any serious mention of 'Beautiful' behaviour or 'classy' behaviour why should we take the term moral behaviour as used by the same people any more seriously and why do they?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 05:47:22 PM
The term redundant is used to refer to the phrase Moral behaviour as properly understood in say empiricism and naturalism. Since all we can do effectively is observe behaviour and anything like any capacity to detect a moral landscape is rejected then the word moral here is meaningless and a mere label. So in a phrase like moral behaviour the ''moral'' part is unnecessary and therefore redundant because of the sufficiency of the term behaviour.

Since no self respecting materialist, empiricist, naturalist would tolerate any serious mention of 'Beautiful' behaviour or 'classy' behaviour why should we take the term moral behaviour as used by the same people any more seriously and why do they?
Irrelevant, empty, sense free ramblings.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 19, 2020, 06:03:47 PM
Perce,

Quote
Well let's run with with your contention that people fundementally disagree about it and put that up against two arguments used against moral realism. 1) That Humans reach a moral concensus the triumph of which has already been spelt out by Outrider earlier in this thread.
If people fundamentally disagree. How is it possible to reach ANY consensus let alone international law? Secondly the only people who seem to buck consensus on wellbeing, according to Be Rational are 'Outliers' and these people are socio and psychopathic.

Now out of yours or there views I tend to side with them and say there is no fundamental disagreement about what is good or bad on a lot of what the basic commandments or laws should be.

Even by your abysmal standards this is incoherent nonsense. The point is that people are able fundamentally to disagree about moral questions – unlike actual universal properties like gravity when you don’t get to decide for yourself whether they apply to you.

Why and how majorities often cohere around various moral precepts – that murder is morally wrong for example – is a second order issue, readily explained nonetheless by the personal and societal advantages of such determinations.

Most people will cohere around harmonious music being better than discordant music, around sunsets being more visually pleasing than images of road accidents. Does this mean that there must be aesthetic realism too, an objective aesthetic “landscape” that’s universally “out there” that we should identify, or does it mean instead that we respond with a mix of intuition and reasoning to moral questions just as we do to aesthetic ones?

From an admittedly crowded field of wrong arguments, WLC’s effort to claim objective morality that you’re aping here seems to me to be the most obviously stupid of all.       

Quote
But doubtless you will be crossing your fingers that the subjective morality of people broadly is intersubjective between a majority of actors who aren't fundamentally disagreeing on what is right and wrong.

As that’s what we observe in the real world – people vote for other people who broadly at least reflect their moral outlooks, and those people in turn tend to enact laws that reflect those outlooks – why the need to cross your fingers?

Quote
I think we should and do go thermostatic on morality never seemingly capable of resting on the true moral point to enjoy it but always trying to find it/return to it.

Elephant bananas transmogrify hypnotically.

Hey, it’s funs this random word selection! OK, your turn again… 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Gordon on July 19, 2020, 06:30:27 PM
I think we should and do go thermostatic on morality never seemingly capable of resting on the true moral point to enjoy it but always trying to find it/return to it.

Since we're going all 'thermostatic', Vlad, I think you should turn down the radiator: on its current setting it's clearly addling your thinking.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 06:36:58 PM
Perce,

Even by your abysmal standards this is incoherent nonsense. The point is that people are able fundamentally to disagree about moral questions
Only in fantasy Hillside if the word moral is effectively a redundant word in the phrase 'moral question' because if  ''moral'' is what you wanna make it anyway (which is what you are about to argue), then they are not actually disagreeing on moral questions........So anything you might have to say isn't now worth the trouble.

Have a nice day.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 06:56:51 PM
Irrelevant, empty, sense free ramblings.
How can it be irrelevant when apparently anything is relevant as far as morality goes. Anything less than moral reality and the word morality is fucking irrelevant, sense free and fucking empty for goodness sake.

Except of course for viewers in Scotland.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 19, 2020, 06:59:33 PM
Perce,

Quote
Only in fantasy Hillside if the word moral is effectively a redundant word in the phrase 'moral question' because if  ''moral'' is what you wanna make it anyway (which is what you are about to argue), then they are not actually disagreeing on moral questions........So anything you might have to say isn't now worth the trouble.

Have a nice day.

So much wrongness crammed in to so few words.

1. Nothing about morality being human-made makes it “redundant”. Why would it?

2. Moral opinions aren’t just what people “want to make” them. They’re a mix of intuition – seeing a child beaten instinctively just feels wrong to most people – and reasoning, generally about more nuanced moral questions when there are pros and cons to be weighed up.
 
3. Yes they are disagreeing on moral questions. A moral question doesn’t cease to be a moral question because it isn’t aligned to your concept of what a moral question should be. 

4. Yes it is “worth the trouble” if you bother just this one to engage honestly with it…

…oh, hang on though. What am I thinking.

5. You’re trying an argumentum ad consequentium - one of the various fallacies on which you rely. 

6. If you think that moral question can’t be moral questions without a universal set of morals how can aesthetic questions about music or art be aesthetic questions without a universal set of rules for good and bad music/art?

Apart from all that though…
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 07:17:29 PM
How can it be irrelevant when apparently anything is relevant as far as morality goes. Anything less than moral reality and the word morality is fucking irrelevant, sense free and fucking empty for goodness sake.

Except of course for viewers in Scotland.
Empty vacuous assertion with a begging the question fallacy. Not even amounting to drivel.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 19, 2020, 07:36:24 PM
Perce,

So much wrongness crammed in to so few words.

1. Nothing about morality being human-made makes it “redundant”. Why would it?

2. Moral opinions aren’t just what people “want to make” them. They’re a mix of intuition – seeing a child beaten instinctively just feels wrong to most people – and reasoning, generally about more nuanced moral questions when there are pros and cons to be weighed up.
 
3. Yes they are disagreeing on moral questions. A moral question doesn’t cease to be a moral question because it isn’t aligned to your concept of what a moral question should be. 

4. Yes it is “worth the trouble” if you bother just this one to engage honestly with it…

…oh, hang on though. What am I thinking.

5. You’re trying an argumentum ad consequentium - one of the various fallacies on which you rely. 

6. If you think that moral question can’t be moral questions without a universal set of morals how can aesthetic questions about music or art be aesthetic questions without a universal set of rules for good and bad music/art?

Apart from all that though…
Perce,

Even by your abysmal standards this is incoherent nonsense. The point is that people are able fundamentally to disagree about moral questions – unlike actual universal properties like gravity when you don’t get to decide for yourself whether they apply to you.

Why and how majorities often cohere around various moral precepts – that murder is morally wrong for example – is a second order issue, readily explained nonetheless by the personal and societal advantages of such determinations.

Most people will cohere around harmonious music being better than discordant music, around sunsets being more visually pleasing than images of road accidents. Does this mean that there must be aesthetic realism too, an objective aesthetic “landscape” that’s universally “out there” that we should identify, or does it mean instead that we respond with a mix of intuition and reasoning to moral questions just as we do to aesthetic ones?

From an admittedly crowded field of wrong arguments, WLC’s effort to claim objective morality that you’re aping here seems to me to be the most obviously stupid of all.       

As that’s what we observe in the real world – people vote for other people who broadly at least reflect their moral outlooks, and those people in turn tend to enact laws that reflect those outlooks – why the need to cross your fingers?

Elephant bananas transmogrify hypnotically.

Hey, it’s funs this random word selection! OK, your turn again…
If you are saying well actually morality isn't really real then the word moral becomes redundant. Any subsequent piece containing the word moral is redundant. That is why I gave your last post.....The last post.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 19, 2020, 07:39:06 PM
If you are saying well actually morality isn't really real then the word moral becomes redundant. Any subsequent piece containing the word moral is redundant. That is why I gave your last post.....The last post.
Which make 'manners' 'real'.  Again your use of redundant here shows that you have no knowledge or understanding.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 19, 2020, 10:58:05 PM
Shouldn’t morality come before well being.It might be partly the Bible and in a way extra to the morality all westerners get from the bible by dint of cultural heritage. But yes, If you think it does not please demonstrate. I think I get morality by way of it being a conduit from the real source.

Do you approve of slavery?
The bible does.
If you don't what morality did you use to ignore the slavery passages in the  bible?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 20, 2020, 12:20:33 AM
Do you approve of slavery?
The bible does.
If you don't what morality did you use to ignore the slavery passages in the  bible?
The epistles show Christians were already in the business of freeing slaves when becoming christians which was probably uncommon in the wider Roman community. Christians were bound to treat people better.

Slavery in the Roman empire was an awful experience and an atrocious abuse occurred. The Romans are generally forgiven for slavery because of their culture  but not it seems any Christian romans who had slaves.

What should be remembered is that slaves too became Christian in great numbers so the impression that Christianity was a slavers religion is false.

In fact when an equally particularly horrible form of slavery sprang up in the americas. Black slaves started there own vibrant iteraton of christianity.

How do you know I ignore the slavery passages in the bible?

Why would you say slavery is wrong?

 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 20, 2020, 12:26:27 AM
Do you approve of slavery?
No, do you?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 20, 2020, 12:35:51 AM
The epistles show Christians were already in the business of freeing slaves when becoming christians which was probably uncommon in the wider Roman community. Christians were bound to treat people better.

Slavery in the Roman empire was an awful experience and an atrocious abuse occurred. The Romans are generally forgiven for slavery because of their culture  but not it seems any Christian romans who had slaves.

What should be remembered is that slaves too became Christian in great numbers so the impression that Christianity was a slavers religion is false.

In fact when an equally particularly horrible form of slavery sprang up in the americas. Black slaves started there own vibrant iteraton of christianity.

How do you know I ignore the slavery passages in the bible?

Why would you say slavery is wrong?

 
Why are you lying?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 20, 2020, 12:47:09 AM
Why are you lying?
What do you find to be untrue?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 20, 2020, 12:51:58 AM
What do you find to be untrue?
Your denial of the bible. The how hard you can beat a slave for example. If they survive a week you support that. You worship that.
 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 20, 2020, 12:57:11 AM
Your denial of the bible. The how hard you can beat a slave for example. If they survive a week you support that. You worship that.
I neither deny it’s in the bible nor am I compelled to support it and also I don’t support it.

Why do you think it’s wrong if you do not have any system of moral arbitration?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 20, 2020, 02:47:50 AM
I neither deny it’s in the bible nor am I compelled to support it and also I don’t support it.

Why do you think it’s wrong if you do not have any system of moral arbitration?
so you subjectively cherry pick.
And subjectivity.

Show moral realism.









I'll wait.....







.....




....



.....

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 20, 2020, 07:34:45 AM
so you subjectively cherry pick.
And subjectivity.

Show moral realism.
You are trying hard to get me to see that slavery is wrong. Either you are pulling that out of your arse or you are making moral equations which pitch out the answer slavery is wrong.

Why do you think slavery is wrong?












I'll wait.....







.....




....



.....
[/quote]
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 20, 2020, 07:58:24 AM
This one is for Bluehillside  ..........aren’t we all? But not exclusively.
What differences do you think there are between morality and aesthetics?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 20, 2020, 08:21:10 AM
Don't you think there are problems equating the Law with morality?

I haven't, but since you've asked... I don't think there should be, but in practical terms I think there often is.

Morality is near-infinitely nuanced and, no matter how complex you try to make it, the law never will manage to match that capacity for nuance.  Match that in with political influence which - certainly in recent years in many Western nations - has taken to adopting relatively extremist positions to try to engage/secure votes and voters, and you have the law being deployed for political point-scoring more than to try to document or crystallise an understanding of moral principles.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 20, 2020, 08:36:15 AM
I haven't, but since you've asked... I don't think there should be, but in practical terms I think there often is.

Morality is near-infinitely nuanced and, no matter how complex you try to make it, the law never will manage to match that capacity for nuance.  Match that in with political influence which - certainly in recent years in many Western nations - has taken to adopting relatively extremist positions to try to engage/secure votes and voters, and you have the law being deployed for political point-scoring more than to try to document or crystallise an understanding of moral principles.

O.
Can you explain what you mean when you say morality is near infinitely nuanced?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 20, 2020, 11:30:05 AM
Can you explain what you mean when you say morality is near infinitely nuanced?

That the combination of specific background elements to any given incident, so many of which can have an influence, are incalculable.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 20, 2020, 01:40:50 PM
That the combination of specific background elements to any given incident, so many of which can have an influence, are incalculable.

O.
Yes I can see how somebody might see it that way. But another way of looking at this is that the players or actors in any situation are people. Surely that simplifies things.

In the scheme you propose I can see the parameters increasing if we have conflated morality with other goals.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 20, 2020, 03:33:26 PM
Yes I can see how somebody might see it that way. But another way of looking at this is that the players or actors in any situation are people. Surely that simplifies things.

Only if you assume good intentions from everybody involved, which not only experience tells us we can't do, but if we could we wouldn't need morals.

Quote
In the scheme you propose I can see the parameters increasing if we have conflated morality with other goals.

Such as?

Which brings us around to what's your alternative system?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 20, 2020, 04:39:36 PM
The epistles show Christians were already in the business of freeing slaves when becoming christians which was probably uncommon in the wider Roman community. Christians were bound to treat people better.

Slavery in the Roman empire was an awful experience and an atrocious abuse occurred. The Romans are generally forgiven for slavery because of their culture  but not it seems any Christian romans who had slaves.

What should be remembered is that slaves too became Christian in great numbers so the impression that Christianity was a slavers religion is false.

In fact when an equally particularly horrible form of slavery sprang up in the americas. Black slaves started there own vibrant iteraton of christianity.

How do you know I ignore the slavery passages in the bible?

Why would you say slavery is wrong?

 

The bible advocates slavery.

Do you and if not why  not?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 20, 2020, 04:54:05 PM
The epistles show Christians were already in the business of freeing slaves when becoming christians which was probably uncommon in the wider Roman community. Christians were bound to treat people better.

And yet slavery was entirely normal in Dark Ages Britain, practiced equally often by the Christian Britons and French and the Norse; Dublin (a Christian city) was founded at least in part on its place in the European slave trade.

The trans-Atlantic slave trade was explicitly expressed as part of the mission of bringing Christianity to the black African populace... until it wasn't.

Quote
Slavery in the Roman empire was an awful experience and an atrocious abuse occurred. The Romans are generally forgiven for slavery because of their culture  but not it seems any Christian romans who had slaves.

The Romans aren't 'forgiven' for their part in slavery, it's just that there isn't a 'Roman' populace to see as the modern incarnation that's benefitted from the practice.

Quote
What should be remembered is that slaves too became Christian in great numbers so the impression that Christianity was a slavers religion is false.

It's not false at all, it's not all the picture but it isn't untrue.  In some ways, it's worse, because Christianity was introduced to the slaves in a way that added to the ability to keep them subjugated, as the particular interpretation used had the effect of trying to get them to see their servitude as somehow 'holy' and 'where they belonged'.

Quote
In fact when an equally particularly horrible form of slavery sprang up in the americas. Black slaves started there own vibrant iteraton of christianity.

And there's a wealth of studies to show that there are significant parts of the Black spirituality in the US that helps to keep the Black communities poor and needy.

Quote
Why would you say slavery is wrong?

It denies people the personal liberty to choose their own path and make of themselves what they choose.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 20, 2020, 07:33:16 PM
The bible advocates slavery.
Quote
I find nothing in it recommending slavery to me or you.


Do you and if not why  not?
See previous answer.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 20, 2020, 07:36:52 PM
And yet slavery was entirely normal in Dark Ages Britain,
Hang on........I'll get my violin.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 20, 2020, 11:21:02 PM
See previous answer.

So you did not think the bible advocates slavery?

Exodus 21

English Standard Version

Laws About Slaves

21 “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. 2 When you buy a Hebrew slave,a]" style="font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;">[a] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. 5 But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

7 “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has designated herb]" style="font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;"> for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

15 “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.

16 “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.

17 “Whoever cursesc]" style="font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;">[c] his father or his mother shall be put to death.

18 “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, 19 then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.

20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.

22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm,d]" style="font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;">[d] then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

26 “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.

28 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. 29 But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. 31 If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekelse]" style="font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;">[e] of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

Laws About Restitution

33 “When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.

35 “When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. 36 Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 07:39:28 AM
So you did not think the bible advocates slavery?

Exodus 21

English Standard Version

Laws About Slaves

21 “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. 2 When you buy a Hebrew slave,a]" style="font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;">[a] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. 5 But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

7 “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has designated herb]" style="font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;"> for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

15 “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.

16 “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.

17 “Whoever cursesc]" style="font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;">[c] his father or his mother shall be put to death.

18 “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, 19 then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.

20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.

22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm,d]" style="font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;">[d] then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

26 “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.

28 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. 29 But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. 31 If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekelse]" style="font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;">[e] of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

Laws About Restitution

33 “When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.

35 “When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. 36 Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall
So Early Isrealite slaveowners had laws governing them.

What has that to do with non slave owning 21st century non isrealites? Or even non slave owning Early Isrealites?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 21, 2020, 08:16:32 AM
Hang on........I'll get my violin.

Does it have a response in it, or is this you sliding away from addressing the point?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 08:51:16 AM
Does it have a response in it, or is this you sliding away from addressing the point?

O.
That slavery had a bit of a comeback in medieval times.
Yes religion featured highly in those times, yes, without it things might have been a lot worse, and yes  the church had a lot of bad habits too but civilisation as it was was a rough affair.

But we as modern people had better watch it as far as slavery is concerned as it is making a hellish of a comeback. When I read people on here say yeh but we've got it under control,I think certainly not as in control as I thought.

Regarding Black people being worse off with religion
Now that seems to be a perfect example of conflating morality with another goal. The danger of conflating morality with wealth is that you fall prey to equating prosperity with virtue as the prosperity gospellers have and as white secularists have in a more subtle way with consumerism and taxpayer ism angry Bitish Conservative values......still ahead in the polls and the portal to damnation for hordes.

I suggest you read GK Chesterton or revisit him if you already have since I think your assumptions need a blast of something.

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 21, 2020, 09:32:26 AM
That slavery had a bit of a comeback in medieval times.

Those pretty heavily religious times.

Quote
Yes religion featured highly in those times, yes, without it things might have been a lot worse, and yes  the church had a lot of bad habits too but civilisation as it was was a rough affair.

It might also have been a lot better, given that some of the justification for the slavery was religion.

Quote
But we as modern people had better watch it as far as slavery is concerned as it is making a hellish of a comeback.

We need to watch for how we treat people, but I'm mindful of not equating 'modern slavery' - a range of distasteful practices which are all against the laws of most nations - with actual slavery which wasn't just accepted or condoned by nations, it was legislated for and was the foundation for some of the economies of the time.  It's an awful business, but it's nothing like the same awful business.

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When I read people on here say yeh but we've got it under control,I think certainly not as in control as I thought.

Slavery - actual slavery - yes we have; exploitation, people trafficking, work ganging and the like we still have a lot of work to do, I'd agree.

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Regarding Black people being worse off with religion.  Now that seems to be a perfect example of conflating morality with another goal.

That rather depends on what your morality is based upon; if it's based upon the precept of trying to maximise the happiness of all then it's not conflation, it's overlap.

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The danger of conflating morality with wealth is that you fall prey to equating prosperity with virtue as the prosperity gospellers have and as white secularists have in a more subtle way with consumerism and taxpayer ism angry Bitish Conservative values......still ahead in the polls and the portal to damnation for hordes.

Who said anything about wealth?  The reality is that a lack of wealth goes along with earlier death, child mortality, lower literacy rates, lower expectations for children, poorer formal education outcomes for families, increased likelihood of criminality and drug use, poorer health and lower self-reported satisfaction and happiness.  Money probably shouldn't be the goal, but let's be realistic that it's one of the more effective tools in our arsenals as society is currently set.  You could recommend we change that - again, depending on the proposition I might even agree - but we also need to have a moral system that works here and now.

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I suggest you read GK Chesterton or revisit him if you already have since I think your assumptions need a blast of something.

And what does Chesterton have to say that's pertinent, I've not read his works before.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 09:38:53 AM
Perce,

Quote
If you are saying well actually morality isn't really real…

What does “really real” mean? It’s “really real” inasmuch as it exists as a useful/essential human construction, but there’s no good reason to think it’s “really real” in the sense of an objectively “out there” universal stuff, let alone one that we could somehow tap into by subscribing to various ancient “holy” texts.     

Quote
…then the word moral becomes redundant.

Of course it doesn’t. It’s no more redundant than aesthetics is redundant. I set out for you why you're wrong here, only for you to ignore the arguments and repeat the same un-argued assertion nonetheless. It’s your assertion though, so you justify it. 

Quote
Any subsequent piece containing the word moral is redundant.

BS – see above.

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That is why I gave your last post.....The last post.

The last post was sounded on your efforts here long ago. Just repeating an un-argued and reason-denying assertion doesn’t somehow validate it.

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This one is for Bluehillside  ..........aren’t we all? But not exclusively.

“aren’t we all? But not exclusively” what?


Quote
What differences do you think there are between morality and aesthetics?

In their objects, lots; in their construction, none. Perhaps if you hadn’t just ignored the explanations you were given for why this is so you wouldn’t need to ask. 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 11:58:21 AM
Those pretty heavily religious times.

And the age of modern slavery is happening in pretty heavily secular times.
Quote

It might also have been a lot better, given that some of the justification for the slavery was religion.
Yes......was...... Being challenged as to whether one believes in owning slaves or burning witches is though the genetic fallacy writ large. When were you last on a website asking Germans whether they supported the final solution......or for that matter, asking atheists whether they thought Pol Pot was a bit over the top?
Quote
We need to watch for how we treat people, but I'm mindful of not equating 'modern slavery' - a range of distasteful practices which are all against the laws of most nations - with actual slavery which wasn't just accepted or condoned by nations, it was legislated for and was the foundation for some of the economies of the time. Yes past times. It's an awful business, but it's nothing like the same awful business.

Modern slavery is actual slavery. Usually qualification by slavery type is frowned on in your circles as excuse and yet here you are saying, well, it’s not real slavery.

Not only is that dangerous nonsense which allows this sort of thing to flourish, it is the fallacy of modernity, the fallacy of progress, and the fallacy of secularity, in your case thinking it impossible for actual slavery to exist today in your backyard, post enlightenment and in a secular society. Which of course allows it to flourish and not seen as any real problem.......It’s not actual slavery after all.

Dark age and medieval times Times were society scraping by held together by among other things ,although I can’t think what, Religion.

It was a time of dynastic ambition and plenty of dirt shit and tribalism turning into feudalism yes
Turning it into an age of slavery is arrant historical revisionism.

That slavery has made a comeback shows more, I would have thought that progress was in reverse.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 12:04:17 PM
Perce,

What does “really real” mean? It’s “really real” inasmuch as it exists as a useful/essential human construction, but there’s no good reason to think it’s “really real” in the sense of an objectively “out there” universal stuff, let alone one that we could somehow tap into by subscribing to various ancient “holy” texts.     

Of course it doesn’t. It’s no more redundant than aesthetics is redundant. I set out for you why you're wrong here, only for you to ignore the arguments and repeat the same un-argued assertion nonetheless. It’s your assertion though, so you justify it. 

BS – see above.

The last post was sounded on your efforts here long ago. Just repeating an un-argued and reason-denying assertion doesn’t somehow validate it.

“aren’t we all? But not exclusively” what?


In their objects, lots; in their construction, none. Perhaps if you hadn’t just ignored the explanations you were given for why this is so you wouldn’t need to ask.
I enjoy the same guilty pleasure of hearing the old standards eek out of your thinking, for want of a better word, as squeezing pimples.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 12:08:53 PM
Perce,

Quote
I enjoy the same guilty pleasure of hearing the old standards eek out of your thinking, for want of a better word, as squeezing pimples.

Semi-literate gibberish. I guess when you can't answer even simple questions incomprehensible avoidance is the only recourse left to you. 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 12:25:31 PM
Perce,

Semi-literate gibberish. I guess when you can't answer even simple questions incomprehensible avoidance is the only recourse left to you.
Demonstrate that morality and aesthetics are different in their objects but the same in their construction.

If you feel torn between pleading that you have done, that you think it was a waste of time or fucking off back to your colouring books......For you I would recommend option 3.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 12:38:23 PM
Perce,

Quote
Demonstrate that morality and aesthetics are different in their objects but the same in their construction.

I did and you ignored it.

Quote
If you feel torn between pleading that you have done, that you think it was a waste of time or fucking off back to your colouring books......For you I would recommend option 3.

I have no idea what you get from your unrelenting dishonesty, but if ever you do feel like actually attempting at least an argument to justify your clam that human-made morality would be "redundant" then give it a go.

As you’ve never justified anything you assert though, probably not a good idea to hold my breath on that one…
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 12:50:18 PM
Perce,

I did and you ignored it.

I have no idea what you get from your unrelenting dishonesty, but if ever you do feel like actually attempting at least an argument to justify your clam that human-made morality would be "redundant" then give it a go.

As you’ve never justified anything you assert though, probably not a good idea to hold my breath on that one…
I’m giving you a chance Hillside. You seem to revel in the notion of morality being so similar to aesthetics. If you cannot come up with the distinction then we are justified in asking which term, aesthetics or morality are you going to make redundant. There is no having your cake and eating it here I’m afraid not even for the Tsar of the turdpolisher.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 01:01:35 PM
Perce,

Quote
I’m giving you a chance Hillside.

Don’t be so fucking patronising, especially when you’re so out of your depth.

Quote
You seem to revel in the notion of morality being so similar to aesthetics.

There is no “revelling”, just reason.

Quote
If you cannot come up with the distinction…

Stop lying. I’ve already told you that they address different concerns.

Quote
…but  then we…

Who’s this “we”?

Quote
…are justified in asking which term, aesthetics or morality are you going to make redundant.

Yet another straw man. There’s no justification because neither are “redundant”.

Quote
There is no having your cake and eating it here I’m afraid not even for the Tsar of the turdpolisher.

Yes there is – they both function perfectly well with no need for some sort of mystical universal support.

Anyway, it was your claim that human-made morality would be "redundant" so it’s your job to justify the claim.

I’m giving you the chance Perce. What’s stopping you?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 21, 2020, 01:14:26 PM
And the age of modern slavery is happening in pretty heavily secular times.

Secular does not mean 'not religious', remember - how many of those modern slavers are religious people, do you think?

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Yes......was...... Being challenged as to whether one believes in owning slaves or burning witches is though the genetic fallacy writ large.

I wasn't suggesting that you did, I was pointing that claiming 'Christianity' didn't make it clear which side of the debate you were on at the time.

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When were you last on a website asking Germans whether they supported the final solution......or for that matter, asking atheists whether they thought Pol Pot was a bit over the top?

The former I'm not sure that I ever have been, but I'd be interested in the answer, we all know there's still an undercurrent of it out there.  The latter, well, today... here, now, it's the sort of thing that's dribbled out on a semi-regular basis.  What makes you think that atheists have a particular stance on whether Pol Pot's actions - which don't derive from his atheism - were over the top?

You realise, of course, that asking about the actions of people where there actions are incidental to a trait is fundamentally different to asking about the actions of people specifically in regard to a trait they are openly claiming is their motivation... you get that difference?

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Modern slavery is actual slavery.

Really?  Can you tell me which governments are enforcing the laws regarding ownership of people?

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Usually qualification by slavery type is frowned on in your circles as excuse and yet here you are saying, well, it’s not real slavery.

It's not slavery, that's just an emotive shorthand.  It's not acceptable behaviour, I can understand why they've adopted the terminology, but it's fundamentally different to actual slavery.

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Not only is that dangerous nonsense which allows this sort of thing to flourish, it is the fallacy of modernity, the fallacy of progress, and the fallacy of secularity, in your case thinking it impossible for actual slavery to exist today in your backyard, post enlightenment and in a secular society.

Don't talk shit.  There's a fundamental difference between a social institution that's part of the foundation of the economic system of a nation and which is actively protected by the government, and illegal activity exploiting vulnerable people in the criminal fringes.

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Which of course allows it to flourish and not seen as any real problem.......It’s not actual slavery after all.

No-one is saying that it's not a problem, but it's not slavery.

Wiktionary - Slavery - slavery (usually uncountable, plural slaveries)

An institution or social practice of owning human beings as property, especially for use as forced laborers.
A condition of servitude endured by a slave.
(figuratively) A condition in which one is captivated or subjugated, as by greed or drugs.

Where is it legal to own people in the world in the current day?  Where in the world has a statute book that applies property law to people?

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Dark age and medieval times Times were society scraping by held together by among other things ,although I can’t think what, Religion.  It was a time of dynastic ambition and plenty of dirt shit and tribalism turning into feudalism yes. Turning it into an age of slavery is arrant historical revisionism.

Dark age and mediaeval times were societies defining in- and out-groups on a number of criteria, one of which was religion and propogating wars of conquest based on those categorisations.  I am not turning into an age of slavery, slavery was a fairly significant part of the economies of Europe at least at the time, and continued to be so until well into the 19th Century in most places.

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That slavery has made a comeback shows more, I would have thought that progress was in reverse.

Slavery has not made a comeback, the term has been recycled for a modern usage which is the nature of language.  That we have identified modern exploitative practices as 'slavery' could be seen as progress, given that we obviously don't have a current need for it to describe actual slavery.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 01:36:17 PM
Secular does not mean 'not religious', remember - how many of those modern slavers are religious people, do you think?

I wasn't suggesting that you did, I was pointing that claiming 'Christianity' didn't make it clear which side of the debate you were on at the time.

The former I'm not sure that I ever have been, but I'd be interested in the answer, we all know there's still an undercurrent of it out there.  The latter, well, today... here, now, it's the sort of thing that's dribbled out on a semi-regular basis.  What makes you think that atheists have a particular stance on whether Pol Pot's actions - which don't derive from his atheism - were over the top?

You realise, of course, that asking about the actions of people where there actions are incidental to a trait is fundamentally different to asking about the actions of people specifically in regard to a trait they are openly claiming is their motivation... you get that difference?

Really?  Can you tell me which governments are enforcing the laws regarding ownership of people?

It's not slavery, that's just an emotive shorthand.  It's not acceptable behaviour, I can understand why they've adopted the terminology, but it's fundamentally different to actual slavery.

Don't talk shit.  There's a fundamental difference between a social institution that's part of the foundation of the economic system of a nation and which is actively protected by the government, and illegal activity exploiting vulnerable people in the criminal fringes.

No-one is saying that it's not a problem, but it's not slavery.

Wiktionary - Slavery - slavery (usually uncountable, plural slaveries)

An institution or social practice of owning human beings as property, especially for use as forced laborers.
A condition of servitude endured by a slave.
(figuratively) A condition in which one is captivated or subjugated, as by greed or drugs.

Where is it legal to own people in the world in the current day?  Where in the world has a statute book that applies property law to people?

Dark age and mediaeval times were societies defining in- and out-groups on a number of criteria, one of which was religion and propogating wars of conquest based on those categorisations.  I am not turning into an age of slavery, slavery was a fairly significant part of the economies of Europe at least at the time, and continued to be so until well into the 19th Century in most places.

Slavery has not made a comeback, the term has been recycled for a modern usage which is the nature of language.  That we have identified modern exploitative practices as 'slavery' could be seen as progress, given that we obviously don't have a current need for it to describe actual slavery.

O.
Amazing .I'm wondering how and where to direct my incredulity that people holding your view actually exist and that is even after being on this message board for years.
I'm so gobsmacked for once I dont know what to say.

Do you really think there are two sides to the slavery question along the lines of Christianity?

Secondly having fought to pick myself of the ground.....can I ask you how apparently just being a bit beastly to the mentally challenged, the desperate and a few Philippine maids has been in your view unnecessarily termed as slavery?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 21, 2020, 02:14:05 PM
Amazing.

Thank you.

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I'm wondering how and where to direct my incredulity that people holding your view actually exist and that is even after being on this message board for years.I'm so gobsmacked for once I dont know what to say.  Do you really think there are two sides to the slavery question along the lines of Christianity?

Are you asking me if I think there should be, or if historically there have been?  Historically it's without question that there have been.  In order to be able to say whether there should have been or not I'd have to take a stance on which is the 'correct' interpretation of the various scriptural and canonical outputs of the various churches, and I'm not sure there is a definitive answer in there.

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Secondly having fought to pick myself of the ground.....can I ask you how apparently just being a bit beastly to the mentally challenged, the desperate and a few Philippine maids has been in your view unnecessarily termed as slavery?

Is it legal for someone to openly own them, supported by legislation enforced by the government?  If it's not, then it's simply not slavery - slavery is the ownership of people as property; not treating them as though it is (which is despicable) but actually having the legal right to do so, being able to call upon the various arms of the government to reinforce your ownership.

It doesn't reduce the effect on people, it doesn't make it any more acceptable, but it does mean that it's not slavery.

I fail to see how this is such a challenge to understand - what definition of slavery are you employing that confuses this issue?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 02:26:20 PM
Thank you.

Are you asking me if I think there should be, or if historically there have been?  Historically it's without question that there have been.  In order to be able to say whether there should have been or not I'd have to take a stance on which is the 'correct' interpretation of the various scriptural and canonical outputs of the various churches, and I'm not sure there is a definitive answer in there.

Is it legal for someone to openly own them, supported by legislation enforced by the government?  If it's not, then it's simply not slavery - slavery is the ownership of people as property; not treating them as though it is (which is despicable) but actually having the legal right to do so, being able to call upon the various arms of the government to reinforce your ownership.

It doesn't reduce the effect on people, it doesn't make it any more acceptable, but it does mean that it's not slavery.

I fail to see how this is such a challenge to understand - what definition of slavery are you employing that confuses this issue?

O.
Your status of holding despicable views on this issue is already out there IMHO.That is not the the question here. Why is it referred to as Modern Slavery if it isn’t anything of the sort?

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 21, 2020, 02:31:25 PM
Your status of holding despicable views on this issue is already out there IMHO.That is not the the question here. Why is it referred to as Modern Slavery if it isn’t anything of the sort?
What despicable views does Outrider hold on this issue IYO?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 03:05:50 PM
What despicable views does Outrider hold on this issue IYO?
That it isn’t slavery.
I think though he’s probably ok around here making enough mood music on LGTBQ and atheist zeal has been used to cover shortcomings.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 21, 2020, 03:13:27 PM
Your status of holding despicable views on this issue is already out there IMHO.

Oh, here's your opportunity to actually explain your stance on morality - in what way are my views 'despicable' on this?

Quote
That is not the the question here.

It sort of is after you make the statement.

Quote
Why is it referred to as Modern Slavery if it isn’t anything of the sort?

As I said earlier, because it's an emotive term that catches attention and elevates the status to try and engage more people and make it stand out in a field of other areas where we also need to do work.

Still nothing on a nation that permits the ownership of people, then?  You know, like actual slavery?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 21, 2020, 03:13:52 PM
That it isn’t slavery.
I think though he’s probably ok around here making enough mood music on LGTBQ and atheist zeal has been used to cover shortcomings.
Why is thinking it a bad thing but not fitting in with the definition of slavery despicable?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 03:14:27 PM
Perce,

Quote
That it isn’t slavery.
I think though he’s probably ok around here making enough mood music on LGTBQ and atheist zeal has been used to cover shortcomings.


Here’s what he actually said (emphasis added):

“Is it legal for someone to openly own them, supported by legislation enforced by the government?  If it's not, then it's simply not slavery - slavery is the ownership of people as property; not treating them as though it is (which is despicable) but actually having the legal right to do so, being able to call upon the various arms of the government to reinforce your ownership.”

I’ve told you before: if you insist on turning up here just to pollute this mb with lies rather than to contribute to it, why not at least try to make your lying a bit less obvious?


Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 03:27:41 PM
Why is thinking it a bad thing but not fitting in with the definition of slavery despicable?
Because it is precisely the attitude that allows modern slavery to occur. It is blind eyeing as it were,
I’m surprised by you asking since you to my recollection consider anything you find homophobic tantamount to supporting the killing of gay people. You of all people should understand where I am coming from.

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 03:31:14 PM
Your denial of the bible. The how hard you can beat a slave for example. If they survive a week you support that. You worship that.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 03:37:08 PM
Perce,

Quote
Because it is precisely the attitude that allows modern slavery to occur. It is blind eyeing as it were,
I’m surprised by you asking since you to my recollection consider anything you find homophobic tantamount to supporting the killing of gay people. You of all people should understand where I am coming from.

Outy explained to you a difference in legal definitions - that difference exists as a matter of fact. He also made clear that he thinks that de facto slavery that does not entail the legal ownership of people is also despicable. How much clearer could he have been about that, and how much dishonesty does it require for you to misrepresent him so egregiously and so obviously?   
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 21, 2020, 03:51:52 PM
Because it is precisely the attitude that allows modern slavery to occur. It is blind eyeing as it were,
I’m surprised by you asking since you to my recollection consider anything you find homophobic tantamount to supporting the killing of gay people. You of all people should understand where I am coming from.
If you say something is bad and should be stopped you are not turning a blind eye. The rest of your post is a irrelevant lying tu quoque.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 21, 2020, 03:52:33 PM

This is your best post in ages.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 03:57:11 PM
Perce,

Outy explained to you a difference in legal definitions - that difference exists as a matter of fact. He also made clear that he thinks that de facto slavery that does not entail the legal ownership of people is also despicable. How much clearer could he have been about that, and how much dishonesty does it require for you to misrepresent him so egregiously and so obviously?   
Are you saying slavery is a redundant term in the phrase “modern slavery”?
Why is it referred to then as modern slavery ?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 03:57:15 PM
NS,

Quote
This is your best post in ages.

Mainly because it's the first time in ages he hasn't posted one or multiple lies. 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 04:00:58 PM
This is your best post in ages.
Would you say that because one doesn’t believe that modern slavery is modern slavery one worships slavery?

Or are such shitty equations reserved for people one hates Nearly Sane.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 04:03:30 PM
Perce,

Quote
Are you saying slavery is a redundant term in the phrase “modern slavery”?
Why is it referred to then as modern slavery ?

No, that's just you lying again. What I'm actually saying (and, more to the point, Outy said several times quite clearly) is that IN LAW the term "slavery" requires the lawful ownership of people. That though does not for one moment imply that de facto slavery that doesn't meet that definition isn't also despicable.     
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 04:04:59 PM
Perce,

Quote
Would you say that because one doesn’t believe that modern slavery is modern slavery one worships slavery?

Or are such shitty equations reserved for people one hates Nearly Sane.

Incomprehensible gibberish.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 04:10:09 PM
Perce,

No, that's just you lying again. What I'm actually saying (and, more to the point, Outy said several times quite clearly) is that IN LAW the term "slavery" requires the lawful ownership of people. That though does not for one moment imply that de facto slavery that doesn't meet that definition isn't also despicable.   
Asking questions is lying is it?
Why is it called the Modern slavery act of 2015 then.?

Turdpolishers, pacemakers, electronic atheist dictionaries on full boys. Ha ha ha
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 21, 2020, 04:13:34 PM
Would you say that because one doesn’t believe that modern slavery is modern slavery one worships slavery?

Or are such shitty equations reserved for people one hates Nearly Sane.
No, because that's you using a false equivalence. I say that you worship the god of the Bible because you state that you do. I point out that the god of the Bible supports slavery and beating slaves - because it says that in the Bible. You don't call the god of the Bible 'despicable' - you worship it.


There is no equivalent to Outrider saying he does not think slavery happens now in the legal definition of owning a person, but that many despicable things which he condemns do.


And one thing that I find despicable is lying but you actually seem to worship it, The entirety of your drivellings on here are based on it. It seems to be your Alpha and your Omega.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 21, 2020, 04:15:52 PM
Asking questions is lying is it?
Why is it called the Modern slavery act of 2015 then.?

Turdpolishers, pacemakers, electronic atheist dictionaries on full boys. Ha ha ha
No making statements that Outrider supports explotation is lying. And you have just lied about that lie in this post. Why do you lie so much? Is it pathological? Is it exciting for you?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 04:21:24 PM
Perce,

Quote
Asking questions is lying is it?

No, but lying about what people say is and you should stop doing it.

Quote
Why is it called the Modern slavery act of 2015 then.?

Because it's "An Act to make provision about slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour and about human trafficking, including provision for the protection of victims;... " The Act uses "slavery" in its title as short form description for all such offences, but does not say that they all meet the more narrow legal definition of slavery.

If you weren't so determined to misrepresent what people actually say and instead bothered to look it up yourself you wouldn't keep embarrassing yourself like this.   

Quote
Turdpolishers, pacemakers, electronic atheist dictionaries on full boys. Ha ha ha

Pathetic.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 04:24:31 PM
No making statements that Outrider supports explotation is lying. And you have just lied about that lie in this post. Why do you lie so much? Is it pathological? Is it exciting for you?
I don’t think he supports it or condones it. I leave stupefyingly ludicrous equations like that to you.
I would stop at him having a dangerous attitude which allows this to flourish.....and for what? That he can keep this shit about Old Testament slavery and if people were proper Christians they would support it....afloat.

It also reinforces fallacious notions of modernity, progress and secularity......imho.

Unfortunately I fear the arseclenchingly stupefying hypocrisy going on here will never see the light of scrutiny.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 04:27:48 PM
Perce,

No, but lying about what they say is and you should stop doing it.

Because it's "An Act to make provision about slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour and about human trafficking, including provision for the protection of victims;... " The Act uses "slavery" in its title as short form description for all such offences, but does not say that they all meet the more narrow legal definition of slavery.

If you weren't so determined to misrepresent what people actually say and instead bothered to look it up yourself you wouldn't keep embarrassing yourself like this.   

Pathetic.
yyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 04:33:30 PM
Perce,

Not that you give a flying fuck about facts but the generally accepted legal definition of “slavery” is provided by Art 1 of the Slavery Convention 1926 as: “the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised, and ‘slave’ means a person in such condition or status”. 

More recently various more general or colloquial uses of the term have emerged (“economic slave” etc) but there’s recently been a concerted effort to return to a property based approach to redress the balance.

So now you’ll lie about that too for a bit I guess. 

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 04:35:49 PM
Perce,

Quote
yyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

And your argument to defend having your arse handed to you in a sling again would be what? 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 21, 2020, 04:44:50 PM
Perce,

Oh and by the way - when you've finished putting out the latest fire in your trouser department any chance of an actual argument to justify your claim that human-made morality would be "redundant" or will that be yet another un-argued assertion you've run away from in a flurry of lies and distractions?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 21, 2020, 04:49:12 PM
I don’t think he supports it or condones it. I leave stupefyingly ludicrous equations like that to you.
I would stop at him having a dangerous attitude which allows this to flourish.....and for what? That he can keep this shit about Old Testament slavery and if people were proper Christians they would support it....afloat.

It also reinforces fallacious notions of modernity, progress and secularity......imho.

Unfortunately I fear the arseclenchingly stupefying hypocrisy going on here will never see the light of scrutiny.
You said his views were despicable because he was turning a blind eye. That's the lie that you have lied about here.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 21, 2020, 05:28:56 PM
So Early Isrealite slaveowners had laws governing them.

What has that to do with non slave owning 21st century non isrealites? Or even non slave owning Early Isrealites?

These laws are supposedly from God and laws that it found morally good.
If you believe in this God why do you think his rules on slavery are not moral.
I assume of course that you do not think owning people is morally good.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 21, 2020, 07:16:38 PM
These laws are supposedly from God and laws that it found morally good.
If you believe in this God why do you think his rules on slavery are not moral.
I assume of course that you do not think owning people is morally good.
Several points here. Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God to man. He truly shows us what God is like.
Secondly it is possible that religion evolves or as Jesus put it. The spirit will lead you INTO all truth.
Thirdly. After the fall imafraid everything becomes infused with immorality. Gods will being an environment that is paradise. So I'm afraid we are mainly into lesser or greater evils
And finally you are majoring on the OT Now I've been accused of cherry picking but to cherry pick the whole OT? That is some feetbut sadly not impressive. Of course unless you are a moral realist criticising ANY morality cannot be reasonably seen as anything but arsepull.
Any claim that morality is a form of aesthetic ism is highly suspect. I MO
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 21, 2020, 11:14:43 PM
Several points here. Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God to man. He truly shows us what God is like.
Secondly it is possible that religion evolves or as Jesus put it. The spirit will lead you INTO all truth.
Thirdly. After the fall imafraid everything becomes infused with immorality. Gods will being an environment that is paradise. So I'm afraid we are mainly into lesser or greater evils
And finally you are majoring on the OT Now I've been accused of cherry picking but to cherry pick the whole OT? That is some feetbut sadly not impressive. Of course unless you are a moral realist criticising ANY morality cannot be reasonably seen as anything but arsepull.
Any claim that morality is a form of aesthetic ism is highly suspect. I MO

So does this mean you think gods musings about the morality of slavery is wrong?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 22, 2020, 08:09:54 AM
Because it is precisely the attitude that allows modern slavery to occur. It is blind eyeing as it were,

How does calling people trafficking people trafficking, and work-ganging work-ganging, and exploitation exploitation in a technical discussion on actual slavery equate to turning a blind eye to them?  Within the context of this discussion, they very clearly aren't actual slavery.  In the common usage, as I've already explained, there's a useful purpose to the technical misuse - I don't wander around randomly 'correcting' people for their usage because this is how language works, terms get borrowed and repurposed.

However, in a discussion about actual genuine slavery the distinction is important and needs to be made.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 08:40:49 AM
So does this mean you think gods musings about the morality of slavery is wrong?
What I am saying is that after the fall of Man the world itself is never not infused with moral wrong. Divorce by any accounts shows that where it occurs there has been human incompatibility and human alienation and yet, it is often the lesser of two evils.
Those who supported the decision to drop the atom bomb in WW2 argue it avoided a land invasion. Again one had to be the lesser of two evils.
And that might be why we see bad things happening in the OT.

Since I get accused of wanting to hand wave the bad stuff away. I will say I am prepared to own this lesser evils idea
It is also alternatively  possible that these laws were passed by people who didnt actually realise they shouldn't just be making laws about slavery but abolishing it. On the other hand there must have been Israelites who didnt want slaves on moral grounds and were within the rules not to have them.

So the point is I find nothing anywhere to say that God saw slavery and thought that it was good. But he is and has been dealing with fallen human beings on a personal local national and international level.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 08:47:24 AM
How does calling people trafficking people trafficking, and work-ganging work-ganging, and exploitation exploitation in a technical discussion on actual slavery equate to turning a blind eye to them? 
Not seeing it for what it is.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 22, 2020, 09:04:17 AM
Not seeing it for what it is.

So what's your working definition of slavery that differs from the dictionaries, then?  I've explained mine, and why I think it's significant in this context, and how I don't make the differentiation in everyday life, but don't let little things like nuance get in the way, just pop out your explanation of why there's no difference between modern day work-ganging and the 17th Century trans-Atlantic slave trade and we can all consider ourselves as enlightened as you appear to think you are.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 09:13:49 AM
So what's your working definition of slavery that differs from the dictionaries, then?  I've explained mine, and why I think it's significant in this context, and how I don't make the differentiation in everyday life, but don't let little things like nuance get in the way, just pop out your explanation of why there's no difference between modern day work-ganging and the 17th Century trans-Atlantic slave trade and we can all consider ourselves as enlightened as you appear to think you are.

O.
This is amazing. You are the ones turd polishing modern slavery into not at all actual slavery because there is no religious component to it and, I'm the one in the Dock!

This MB community has certainly experienced geographic isolation to the point where it is evolutionary at variance with the universal and legal recognition that modern slavery is forms of,er,slavery.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 22, 2020, 10:00:43 AM
This is amazing. You are the ones turd polishing modern slavery into not at all actual slavery because there is no religious component to it and, I'm the one in the Dock!

I have no evidence whether religion is a component in Modern Slavery, and I've not commented on whether it does or doesn't - what makes it slavery or not is whether it's openly legislated by government, whether it's the legal ownership of people or the illegal subjugation and exploitation of them.  I note that has avoided actually making an argument for what slavery is or isn't in favour of ad hominems based on points that no-one's been making - it takes some doing to ad hominem a straw-man, that's like the Royal Flush of logical fallacies.

Quote
This MB community has certainly experienced geographic isolation to the point where it is evolutionary at variance with the universal and legal recognition that modern slavery is forms of,er,slavery.

All you need do to justify that is come up with what definition of slavery you're using that encompasses both - I'll wait some more.

Whilst you're trying to find something to avoid doing that, how about you pitch what exactly your take on morality is that justifies baseless ad hominems?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 10:46:19 AM
This is to certify
That Out Rider has been both inducted into
The worshipful company of Turdpolishers
B.Hillside General Secretary
And received into membership of the Caledonian brotherhood of Keechsheeners
Chief Sheener N.sane.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 22, 2020, 10:48:50 AM
This is to certify
That Out Rider has been both inducted into
The worshipful company of Turdpolishers
B.Hillside General Secretary
And received into membership of the Caledonian brotherhood of Keechsheeners
Chief Sheener N.sane.
Quite amusing. Points for use of keech.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 10:56:45 AM
Quite amusing. Points for use of keech.
Thank you......

Who's the moderator general of the brotherhood this year?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Nearly Sane on July 22, 2020, 10:59:24 AM
Thank you......

Who's the moderator general of the brotherhood this year?
You have that role for life
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 22, 2020, 11:10:00 AM
What I am saying is that after the fall of Man the world itself is never not infused with moral wrong. Divorce by any accounts shows that where it occurs there has been human incompatibility and human alienation and yet, it is often the lesser of two evils.
Those who supported the decision to drop the atom bomb in WW2 argue it avoided a land invasion. Again one had to be the lesser of two evils.
And that might be why we see bad things happening in the OT.

Since I get accused of wanting to hand wave the bad stuff away. I will say I am prepared to own this lesser evils idea
It is also alternatively  possible that these laws were passed by people who didnt actually realise they shouldn't just be making laws about slavery but abolishing it. On the other hand there must have been Israelites who didnt want slaves on moral grounds and were within the rules not to have them.

So the point is I find nothing anywhere to say that God saw slavery and thought that it was good. But he is and has been dealing with fallen human beings on a personal local national and international level.

So why are the supposed words of God on the subject of slavery not something like thou shalt not own people as property instead of the rules setting out exactly the opposite?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 22, 2020, 11:12:36 AM
This is to certify
That Out Rider has been both inducted into
The worshipful company of Turdpolishers
B.Hillside General Secretary
And received into membership of the Caledonian brotherhood of Keechsheeners
Chief Sheener N.sane.

Should  I presume that your decision to attempt satire instead of making a point constitutes an admission that you were talking keech?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 11:17:28 AM
So why are the supposed words of God on the subject of slavery not something like thou shalt not own people as property instead of the rules setting out exactly the opposite?
Is there a commandment "Thou shall keep slaves".I didn't k now that.
Besides,Did you know that the OT was written by and for the people of Isael?

Did you know that non Israelites are only covered by the Noachite laws apparently.No not many Goyim like you and me do.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 11:21:42 AM
Should  I presume that your decision to attempt satire instead of making a point constitutes an admission that you were talking keech?

O.
not really. How does a witty accusation of you polishing leech constitute me talking it?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 11:22:50 AM
You have that role for life
Ah....sheener emeritus.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 22, 2020, 11:24:20 AM
not really. How does a witty accusation of you polishing leech constitute me talking it?

So still not actually making the argument, I see... I'll wait.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 22, 2020, 01:49:05 PM
Perce,

Quote
Several points here. Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God to man. He truly shows us what God is like.

A faith assertion, not an argument.
 
Quote
Secondly it is possible that religion evolves or as Jesus put it. The spirit will lead you INTO all truth.

A faith assertion, not an argument.

Quote
Thirdly. After the fall imafraid everything becomes infused with immorality. Gods will being an environment that is paradise. So I'm afraid we are mainly into lesser or greater evils

A faith assertion, not an argument.

Quote
And finally you are majoring on the OT Now I've been accused of cherry picking but to cherry pick the whole OT?

So which bits of the books you think to be “holy” do you think are wrong, and how do you decide about that?

Quote
That is some feetbut sadly not impressive. Of course unless you are a moral realist criticising ANY morality cannot be reasonably seen as anything but arsepull.

An assertion you refuse to justify with an argument.

Quote
Any claim that morality is a form of aesthetic ism is highly suspect. I MO

As you a can’t or won’t justify your opinion with an argument, it’s worthless.

Quote
What I am saying is that after the fall of Man the world itself is never not infused with moral wrong.

A faith assertion, not an argument.

Quote
Divorce by any accounts shows that where it occurs there has been human incompatibility and human alienation and yet, it is often the lesser of two evils.

Incoherent irrelevance.

Quote
Those who supported the decision to drop the atom bomb in WW2 argue it avoided a land invasion. Again one had to be the lesser of two evils.
And that might be why we see bad things happening in the OT.

Hang on – just now you asserted that citing the OT was “cherry picking”. Now you’re saying it’s in play, but that your god (apparently of the omnis remember) couldn’t arrange things such that no lesser “evil” was necessary.

Perhaps you should decide which horse you’re backing here?
   
Quote
Since I get accused of wanting to hand wave the bad stuff away. I will say I am prepared to own this lesser evils idea

So you’re “owning” a god not competent enough to eliminate a lesser evil option entirely then. Fair enough – its your blind faith claim after all.

Quote
It is also alternatively  possible that these laws were passed by people who didnt actually realise they shouldn't just be making laws about slavery but abolishing it. On the other hand there must have been Israelites who didnt want slaves on moral grounds and were within the rules not to have them.

So people behaved exactly as you’d expect them to given the circumstances of the time and if there was no god at all to tell them what's right and wrong then? Again, “god” is your faith claim so you can fill that space with whatever you like, but you're making claims about this god with implications I don’t think you’d like.   

Quote
So the point is I find nothing anywhere to say that God saw slavery and thought that it was good.

Nice bit of weasel wording there. If this god of yours thought slavery was bad, why wouldn’t “He” say just have said so in the books he supposedly “inspired”? After all, isn’t that how “He” supposedly chose to lay down “His” moral rules for the guidance of “His” playthings? 

Quote
But he is and has been dealing with fallen human beings on a personal local national and international level.

Highly incompetently it seems. Again though, that’s just another faith assertion but not an argument.

Maybe if you actually tried to make an honest-to-goodness argument just for once you’d provide some reason not to dismiss your ramblings and musings out of hand. How about for example finally telling us why human-made morality would be “redundant”? Surely you must have something in mind to justify the claim? 

Anything at all?

No?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 22, 2020, 01:58:49 PM
Outy,

Quote
So still not actually making the argument, I see... I'll wait.

I went for a bike ride today through some beautiful countryside, and in one of the villages we pass though is a house that was previously a pub. There's a sign on the wall that tells you that it was previously the Three Horseshoes, that it closed in 1956 and was converted into a private dwelling etc. I reckon that if you turned up there expecting the barmaid to bring you a nice pint of Old Wobbly Geriatric you'd wait less time than you'd wait for an actual argument from Perce.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 03:22:22 PM
Perce,

A faith assertion, not an argument.
ja

A faith assertion, not an argument.[/quote] Si

A faith assertion, not an argument.[/quote] yep

And here is the punchline Hillock. They are my faith assertions not what you nor any of the Worshipful company say are my faith assertions .
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 22, 2020, 03:31:18 PM
Outy,

I went for a bike ride today through some beautiful countryside, and in one of the villages we pass though is a house that was previously a pub. There's a sign on the wall that tells you that it was previously the Three Horseshoes, that it closed in 1956 and was converted into a private dwelling etc. I reckon that if you turned up there expecting the barmaid to bring you a nice pint of Old Wobbly Geriatric you'd wait less time than you'd wait for an actual argument from Perce.

Nice one. ;D
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 22, 2020, 03:47:26 PM
Perce,

Quote
ja

A faith assertion, not an argument. Si

A faith assertion, not an argument. yep

And here is the punchline Hillock. They are my faith assertions not what you nor any of the Worshipful company say are my faith assertions .

Bizarre. Anyway, if you want to assert your faith assertions there’s a faith sharing area to do that. If on the other hand you want to post on a discussion forum then you’ll need to do an awful lot better than enter them as if they were facts.

It takes a long time to get you there, but this is a repeating pattern: you think you have an argument to justify your faith beliefs; you try to express it; it’s quickly shown to be false; you lie and insult and divert from the falsifications; then you repeat the mindless faith assertions as if they were facts in any case.

Rather sad really.     
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 22, 2020, 05:08:56 PM
Is there a commandment "Thou shall keep slaves".I didn't k now that.
Besides,Did you know that the OT was written by and for the people of Isael?

Did you know that non Israelites are only covered by the Noachite laws apparently.No not many Goyim like you and me do.

God was clear  about garments etc but instead of being clear on slavery he set out the rules needed to keep and own slaves.
This show that God was quite happy for humans to own others as property.

Do you think owning people as property and being allowed to beat them is morally good?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 05:24:19 PM
God was clear  about garments etc but instead of being clear on slavery he set out the rules needed to keep and own slaves.
This show that God was quite happy for humans to own others as property.

Do you think owning people as property and being allowed to beat them is morally good?
God was not happy with the human race for much after the fall I'm afraid. That is why Jesus had to be.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 05:29:02 PM
Perce,

Bizarre. Anyway, if you want to assert your faith assertions there’s a faith sharing area to do that. If on the other hand you want to post on a discussion forum then you’ll need to do an awful lot better than enter them as if they were facts.

It takes a long time to get you there, but this is a repeating pattern: you think you have an argument to justify your faith beliefs; you try to express it; it’s quickly shown to be false; you lie and insult and divert from the falsifications; then you repeat the mindless faith assertions as if they were facts in any case.

Rather sad really.     
I'm afraid be rational has just said God was happy with slavery. Was Bluehillside there criticising him for assertion. Was he fuck.
Is  BH hypocritical. Fucking right he is.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 22, 2020, 05:33:19 PM
Perce,

Quote
God was not happy with the human race for much after the fall I'm afraid. That is why Jesus had to be.

A god beset with petty human emotions like being a bit pissed off eh?

Anyway, once again you've posted a mindless faith claim on a discussion forum as if it was a contribution to a conversation. Would it help you if I gave you a link to the faith sharing area so you could stop wasting your and other peoples' time here? 

Alternatively you could I suppose try an actual argument for once - maybe that explanation for why human-made morality would be "redundant" that you keep running away from would be a useful place to start?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 22, 2020, 05:38:57 PM
Perce,

Quote
I'm afraid be rational has just said God was happy with slavery. Was Bluehillside there criticising him for assertion. Was he fuck.
Is  BH hypocritical. Fucking right he is.

Avoidance noted.

Whether a god can be "happy", sad or anything else though is anyone's guess as you're just piling guesswork onto guesswork. If nonetheless you insist on asserting into existence a god who thought it was a good idea to put the important moral rules in some books, then I'd have thought "indifferent to" slavery would be fair given that "He" apparently didn't feel the need to tell us in these books that it was a bad thing.

Why do you worship a god who's indifferent to slavery?   
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 05:42:06 PM
Perce,

A god beset with petty human emotions like being a bit pissed off eh?

Anyway, once again you've posted a mindless faith claim on a discussion forum as if it was a contribution to a conversation. Would it help you if I gave you a link to the faith sharing area so you could stop wasting your and other peoples' time here? 

Alternatively you could I suppose try an actual argument for once - maybe that explanation for why human-made morality would be "redundant" that you keep running away from would be a useful place to start?
Hillside. Geologists paleontologists etc are still examining the lower older strata for evidence of you proving theist logical fallacy and your demolition of well,pretty much everything.

Now I'm not a Full Hillsidesettlingallargumentsinfavourof his atheismmyther but one does wonder.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 22, 2020, 05:44:12 PM
Perce,

A god beset with petty human emotions like being a bit pissed off eh?

Anyway, once again you've posted a mindless faith claim on a discussion forum as if it was a contribution to a conversation. Would it help you if I gave you a link to the faith sharing area so you could stop wasting your and other peoples' time here? 

Alternatively you could I suppose try an actual argument for once - maybe that explanation for why human-made morality would be "redundant" that you keep running away from would be a useful place to start?
Hillside. Geologists paleontologists etc are still examining the lower older strata for evidence of you proving theist logical fallacy and your demolition of well,pretty much everything.

Now I'm not a Full Hillsidesettlingallargumentsinfavourof his atheismmyther but one does wonder.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 22, 2020, 05:50:37 PM
Perce,

Quote
Hillside. Geologists paleontologists etc are still examining the lower older strata for evidence of you proving theist logical fallacy and your demolition of well,pretty much everything.

I know flat out lying is your thing, but if only the better to cover your tracks you really should try to be a bit less obvious about it. Your standard operating procedure is to attempt an argument to justify a faith belief, I and others quickly tell you why the argument is wrong, and instead of even attempting to rebut the falsification you ignore it, lie about it or insult it. It’s disgraceful behaviour and I have no idea what you get from it – maybe as NS suggested your lying excites you in some way?

Quote
Now I'm not a Full Hillsidesettlingallargumentsinfavourof his atheismmyther but one does wonder.

Incomprehensible avoidance noted.

Anyway, can we now take it that you’re never even going to bother trying to argue for your argument-free assertion that human-made morality would be “redundant”?

Funny that.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: BeRational on July 22, 2020, 10:35:45 PM
God was not happy with the human race for much after the fall I'm afraid. That is why Jesus had to be.

You seem afraid of the simple question.
I understand why as it shows that your god if it existed and the words in the bible accurately describe his thoughts would be immoral.
I am more moral than your god as are most people and I suspect you are too.

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 12:54:42 AM
Perce,

I know flat out lying is your thing, but if only the better to cover your tracks you really should try to be a bit less obvious about it. Your standard operating procedure is to attempt an argument to justify a faith belief, I and others quickly tell you why the argument is wrong, and instead of even attempting to rebut the falsification you ignore it, lie about it or insult it. It’s disgraceful behaviour and I have no idea what you get from it – maybe as NS suggested your lying excites you in some way?

Incomprehensible avoidance noted.

Anyway, can we now take it that you’re never even going to bother trying to argue for your argument-free assertion that human-made morality would be “redundant”?

Funny that.
Well let's test the idea that it isn't a redundant term in yours and others thinking and therefore your thinking doesn't actually address morality. Which is what I'm really arguing. I think you are misrepresenting what my argument is. You are effectively saying Cultural hegemony successfully reinforces taste and fashion. See Your take can be explained without reference to morality.

So what you say is my argument actually isn't.

So let's try something else......
Let's choose an immoral behaviour. Not modern slavery. I'm not sure we can agree on whether that is immoral or whether you think it's just being a bit firm with the servants. Let's choose say racism. Now  we can agree it is immoral behaviour,but what have you got to put up against those that think it isnt?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 09:59:41 AM
Perce,

Quote
Well let's test the idea that it isn't a redundant term in yours and others thinking and therefore your thinking doesn't actually address morality.

Dear god – I know you’ve never understood the burden of proof principle, but could you at least try just for once to grasp it this time? You were the one who asserted that human-made morality would be redundant, so it’s your job to justify the clam with an argument. All I need to do is to conclude that – so far at least – you’ve provided no such argument so there’s no need to take the claim seriously.   

Quote
Which is what I'm really arguing.

You haven’t argued anything yet – just asserted it.

Quote
I think you are misrepresenting what my argument is.

No, that’s impossible because – so far at least – you haven’t made an argument. There’s nothing to misrepresent.

Quote
You are effectively saying Cultural hegemony successfully reinforces taste and fashion.

What I’m “effectively saying” is, “what is your argument to justify your claim that human-made morality would be redundant?”

Quote
See Your take can be explained without reference to morality.

Er, no. My “take” is that it can be explained without reference to your asserted claim about morality that you’re unable to justify with an argument.
 
Quote
So what you say is my argument actually isn't.

Stop lying. I don’t say that anything is your argument – you don’t have one.

Quote
So let's try something else......

No, let’s not. Let’s instead try you finally telling us what argument you have to justify your claim that human-made morality would be redundant, or instead admit hat you don’t have one so it’s just an unqualified assertion..

Quote
Let's choose an immoral behaviour. Not modern slavery. I'm not sure we can agree on whether that is immoral or whether you think it's just being a bit firm with the servants. Let's choose say racism. Now  we can agree it is immoral behaviour,but what have you got to put up against those that think it isnt?

Reason and argument that I think to be persuasive. That diversion though doesn’t allow you to slide off the hook again about the problem you keep running away from when you make the assertion that human-made morality would be redundant: what argument do you have to justify your assertion? 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 10:41:06 AM
Perce,

Dear god – I know you’ve never understood the burden of proof principle, but could you at least try just for once to grasp it this time? You were the one who asserted that human-made morality would be redundant, so it’s your job to justify the clam with an argument. All I need to do is to conclude that – so far at least – you’ve provided no such argument so there’s no need to take the claim seriously.   

You haven’t argued anything yet – just asserted it.

No, that’s impossible because – so far at least – you haven’t made an argument. There’s nothing to misrepresent.

What I’m “effectively saying” is, “what is your argument to justify your claim that human-made morality would be redundant?”

Er, no. My “take” is that it can be explained without reference to your asserted claim about morality that you’re unable to justify with an argument.
 
Stop lying. I don’t say that anything is your argument – you don’t have one.

No, let’s not. Let’s instead try you finally telling us what argument you have to justify your claim that human-made morality would be redundant, or instead admit hat you don’t have one so it’s just an unqualified assertion..

Reason and argument that I think to be persuasive. That diversion though doesn’t allow you to slide off the hook again about the problem you keep running away from when you make the assertion that human-made morality would be redundant: what argument do you have to justify your assertion? 
An excellent example of how you have taken something like burden of proof and violated it.
If you are saying morality is human made you don't get to say
The burden of proof is on the person who disagrees with that.

So fuck off with that shit.

As it happens. I've put my argument how your model of morality contains effectively no moral content and nothing that cannot be explained in terms other than morality.  You can try substituting cultural hegemony with something else. Unless that something is morality the result is always going  to be whatever you suggest the term morality seems to be redundant. If people are moral it is because they are still in touch with moral reality.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 11:08:33 AM
Perce,

Quote
An excellent example of how you have taken something like burden of proof and violated it.

Utter bollocks. Human-made morality supposedly being “redundant” was your claim, not mine. It’s your job therefore to justify it. Your entire post was an attempt to shift the burden of proof to me. Didn’t work though did it.
 
Quote
If you are saying morality is human made you don't get to say

Again, if you want to make that assertion then justify it with an argument. What’s stopping you?

Quote
The burden of proof is on the person who disagrees with that.

No it isn’t – there’s nothing to prove as there’s only your un-argued assertion on the table. Is it your burden of proof to justify your non-agreement with my assertion that leprechauns love tap dancing? Why not?

You’re the one who asserted human-made morality to be redundant. When do you propose to attempt at least an argument to justify your claim?     

Quote
So fuck off with that shit.

When you fuck up you really go all in don’t you.

Quote
As it happens. I've put my argument how your model of morality contains effectively no moral content and nothing that cannot be explained in terms other than morality.

No you haven’t. You’ve just asserted it to be so, but you’ve offered no argument at all. Stop lying.

Quote
You can try substituting cultural hegemony with something else. Unless that something is morality the result is always going  to be whatever you suggest the term morality seems to be redundant. If people are moral it is because they are still in touch with moral reality.

You can try shifting the burden of proof all you like, but you’re still just reifying your entirely un-argued assertion that any morality other than your assertion of what it should be must be wrong. So yet again:

DO YOU HAVE AN ARGUMENT TO JUSTIFY YOUR CLAIM THAT HUMAN-MADE MORALITY WOULD BE “REDUNDANT”?

Look, I’ll even get you started:

Dear Blue,

On various occasions I have asserted that human-made morality would be redundant. Until now I have never attempted an argument to justify that claim, so there has been no reason to take it seriously. I now have that argument that I set out as follows…

There you go – all you have to do now is to complete the rest.

Surely you must have something in the locker right?

Anything at all?

No?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 23, 2020, 11:12:49 AM
 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 23, 2020, 11:27:34 AM
Perce,

Utter bollocks. Human-made morality supposedly being “redundant” was your claim, not mine. It’s your job therefore to justify it. Your entire post was an attempt to shift the burden of proof to me. Didn’t work though did it.
 
Again, if you want to make that assertion then justify it with an argument. What’s stopping you?

No it isn’t – there’s nothing to prove as there’s only your un-argued assertion on the table. Is it your burden of proof to justify your non-agreement with my assertion that leprechauns love tap dancing? Why not?

You’re the one who asserted human-made morality to be redundant. When do you propose to attempt at least an argument to justify your claim?     

When you fuck up you really go all in don’t you.

No you haven’t. You’ve just asserted it to be so, but you’ve offered no argument at all. Stop lying.

You can try shifting the burden of proof all you like, but you’re still just reifying your entirely un-argued assertion that any morality other than your assertion of what it should be must be wrong. So yet again:

DO YOU HAVE AN ARGUMENT TO JUSTIFY YOUR CLAIM THAT HUMAN-MADE MORALITY WOULD BE “REDUNDANT”?

Look, I’ll even get you started:

Dear Blue,

On various occasions I have asserted that human-made morality would be redundant. Until now I have never attempted an argument to justify that claim, so there has been no reason to take it seriously. I now have that argument that I set out as follows…

There you go – all you have to do now is to complete the rest.

Surely you must have something in the locker right?

Anything at all?

No?

Vlad, if you could see your way to explaining in there what definition of slavery you're working from that doesn't involve the legal ownership of people that'd be helpful too.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 12:23:50 PM
Perce,

Utter bollocks. Human-made morality supposedly being “redundant” was your claim, not mine. It’s your job therefore to justify it. Your entire post was an attempt to shift the burden of proof to me. Didn’t work though did it.
 
Again, if you want to make that assertion then justify it with an argument. What’s stopping you?

No it isn’t – there’s nothing to prove as there’s only your un-argued assertion on the table. Is it your burden of proof to justify your non-agreement with my assertion that leprechauns love tap dancing? Why not?

You’re the one who asserted human-made morality to be redundant. When do you propose to attempt at least an argument to justify your claim?     

When you fuck up you really go all in don’t you.

No you haven’t. You’ve just asserted it to be so, but you’ve offered no argument at all. Stop lying.

You can try shifting the burden of proof all you like, but you’re still just reifying your entirely un-argued assertion that any morality other than your assertion of what it should be must be wrong. So yet again:

DO YOU HAVE AN ARGUMENT TO JUSTIFY YOUR CLAIM THAT HUMAN-MADE MORALITY WOULD BE “REDUNDANT”?

Look, I’ll even get you started:

Dear Blue,

On various occasions I have asserted that human-made morality would be redundant. Until now I have never attempted an argument to justify that claim, so there has been no reason to take it seriously. I now have that argument that I set out as follows…

There you go – all you have to do now is to complete the rest.

Surely you must have something in the locker right?

Anything at all?

No?
I'm sure your scratching are like a glimpse of Disneyland to your atheist Chummosbut the wee problemo is is what you are saying my argument is isnt my argument.

I wouldn't say morality is redundant I'm saying how you use the word it is redundant since the words you pair it with suffice or the sense in which you use the word morality has another term which can replace it.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 23, 2020, 12:28:55 PM
Vlad, if you could see your way to explaining in there what definition of slavery you're working from that doesn't involve the legal ownership of people that'd be helpful too.

O.

Don't ask for the impossible. ;D
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 12:43:20 PM
Perce,

Quote
I'm sure your scratching are like a glimpse of Disneyland to your atheist Chummosbut the wee problemo is is what you are saying my argument is isnt my argument.

Does your lying get you excited or something?

Yet again: I CANNOT BE SAYING WHAT YOUR ARGUMENT IS OR ISN’T BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T MADE ONE.

Clear enough for you now?

Quote
I wouldn't say morality is redundant…

What you said was that human-made morality would be redundant. Are you standing by that un-argued assertion, or are you now resiling from it?

Quote
I'm saying how you use the word it is redundant since the words you pair it with suffice or the sense in which you use the word morality has another term which can replace it.

Incomprehensible, (and irrelevant) gibberish.

Yet again: YOU ASSERTED THAT HUMAN-MADE MORALITY WOULD BE “REDUNDANT”. WHAT ARGUMENT  DO YOU HAVE TO JUSTIFY THAT CLAIM?

It’s ok old son, really it is. Rather than keep twisting in the wind about this why not just admit that you don’t have one so we can all move on? You’d feel much better for it if you did.   
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 12:44:02 PM
Vlad, if you could see your way to explaining in there what definition of slavery you're working from that doesn't involve the legal ownership of people that'd be helpful too.

O.
Are these people working for nothing  Yes
Are they forced to do so.
Are they being kept in sub human conditions yes
Are there laws against this Yes...... Not actually slavery is it then.

Of course it's fucking slavery.

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 12:47:42 PM
Perce,

Quote
Are these people working for nothing  Yes
Are they forced to do so.
Are they being kept in sub human conditions yes
Are there laws against this Yes...... Not actually slavery is it then.

Of course it's fucking slavery.

Are these people legally owned? If not, then their status does not satisfy the definition of the term according to the 1926 Convention. Why is this difficult for you to grasp?

Oh, and as you just ignored the question: why do you worship a god who's indifferent to slavery? 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 12:50:40 PM
Perce,

Does your lying get you excited or something?

Yet again: I CANNOT BE SAYING WHAT YOUR ARGUMENT IS OR ISN’T BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T MADE ONE.

Clear enough for you now?

What you said was that human-made morality would be redundant. Are you standing by that un-argued assertion, or are you now resiling from it?

Incomprehensible, (and irrelevant) gibberish.

Yet again: YOU ASSERTED THAT HUMAN-MADE MORALITY WOULD BE “REDUNDANT”. WHAT ARGUMENT  DO YOU HAVE TO JUSTIFY THAT CLAIM?

It’s ok old son, really it is. Rather than keep twisting in the wind about this why not just admit that you don’t have one so we can all move on? You’d feel much better for it if you did.   
I'm not going to make that argument because it isnt my argument. Since it isnt my argument I dont need to retract it.
If I ever make that argument I would immediately retract it.
And above and beyond all that what you mean by morality isnt morality as I have demonstrated.

I shall say zis only once. Genuine Morality is never redundant. It can even spring out of someone like yourself.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 01:04:22 PM
Perce,

Quote
I'm not going to make that argument because it isnt my argument. Since it isnt my argument I dont need to retract it.

Yes it fucking is (and it’s an assertion rather than an argument in any case). You’ve asserted several times that human-made morality would be “redundant”, is “arse pull”, isn’t “real” morality etc. Why lie about that now? 

Quote
If I ever make that argument I would immediately retract it.

Do it then.

Quote
And above and beyond all that what you mean by morality isnt morality as I have demonstrated.

Liar. Now that you’ve just made the same un-argued assertion again, if you think you’ve demonstrated it then tell us what that demonstration was. I’ve never seen it.     

Quote
I shall say zis only once. Genuine Morality is never redundant. It can even spring out of someone like yourself.

What the fuck are you even trying to say here? What makes morality “genuine” – or are you just repeating your previous un-argued, non-justified, non-demonstrated assertion about that?

Once more: WHAT ARGUMENT DO YOU HAVE TO JUSTIFY YOUR ASSERTION THAT HUMAN-MADE MORALITY WOULD BE “REDUNDANT”, “ARSE PULL”, “TURDPOLISHING”, NOT “REAL” ETC?

If you don’t have an argument to justify the assertion – and clearly you don’t – then just say so. 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 01:42:49 PM
Perce,

Yes it fucking is (and it’s an assertion rather than an argument in any case). You’ve asserted several times that human-made morality would be “redundant”, is “arse pull”, isn’t “real” morality etc. Why lie about that now? 

Do it then.

Liar. Now that you’ve just made the same un-argued assertion again, if you think you’ve demonstrated it then tell us what that demonstration was. I’ve never seen it.     

What the fuck are you even trying to say here? What makes morality “genuine” – or are you just repeating your previous un-argued, non-justified, non-demonstrated assertion about that?

Once more: WHAT ARGUMENT DO YOU HAVE TO JUSTIFY YOUR ASSERTION THAT HUMAN-MADE MORALITY WOULD BE “REDUNDANT”, “ARSE PULL”, “TURDPOLISHING”, NOT “REAL” ETC?

If you don’t have an argument to justify the assertion – and clearly you don’t – then just say so.
I've just done a search Hillside and the phrase "Human Made morality is redundant"......is yours. Not mine.

Wah wah wah waaaaaaaaah.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 23, 2020, 01:53:49 PM
Are these people working for nothing  Yes
Are they forced to do so.
Are they being kept in sub human conditions yes
Are there laws against this Yes...... Not actually slavery is it then.

Of course it's fucking slavery.

No, it's exploitation, it's illegal, there is legal recourse, there are active government policies prohibiting it, it's fundamentally different from slavery which wasn't just those practical concerns but it was the normalisation of those, it was the state actively impressing those conditions on people, not criminals having to do so in the dark crevices of society.

If you can't grasp how that makes things fundamentally different, I'm not sure how I can explain it to you any more simply.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 02:00:34 PM
Perce,

Quote
I've just done a search Hillside and the phrase "Human Made morality is redundant"......is yours. Not mine.

Wah wah wah waaaaaaaaah.

I see you haven’t take my advice to make your lying less obvious then:

Our conscience decides namely the faculty which detects the moral landscape. No moral landscape no morality........Morality is a redundant term in any other scenario.

Reply 125

That if you like and even if you don’t like is bollocks.
Any other explanation of morality leaves the term morality redundant. Any explanation that leaves it intact is better than one which makes it redundant.

So there is a moral reality or the whole thing is effectively just arsepull of the type you wouldn’t even dream of engaging with if it was just ordinary reasoning which was involved.”


Reply 127

“The term redundant is used to refer to the phrase Moral behaviour as properly understood in say empiricism and naturalism. Since all we can do effectively is observe behaviour and anything like any capacity to detect a moral landscape is rejected then the word moral here is meaningless and a mere label. So in a phrase like moral behaviour the ''moral'' part is unnecessary and therefore redundant because of the sufficiency of the term behaviour.

Since no self respecting materialist, empiricist, naturalist would tolerate any serious mention of 'Beautiful' behaviour or 'classy' behaviour why should we take the term moral behaviour as used by the same people any more seriously and why do they?”

Reply 131

“Only in fantasy Hillside if the word moral is effectively a redundant word in the phrase 'moral question' because if  ''moral'' is what you wanna make it anyway (which is what you are about to argue), then they are not actually disagreeing on moral questions........So anything you might have to say isn't now worth the trouble.”

Reply 135

“How can it be irrelevant when apparently anything is relevant as far as morality goes. Anything less than moral reality and the word morality is fucking irrelevant, sense free and fucking empty for goodness sake.”

Reply 136

If you are saying well actually morality isn't really real then the word moral becomes redundant. Any subsequent piece containing the word moral is redundant. That is why I gave your last post.....The last post.”

Reply 139

So now you’ve been caught out again, and as you just claimed to have demonstrated something rather than just asserted it perhaps you’d be good enough to tell us after all this time what the demonstration is. 

What’s stopping you?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 02:04:50 PM
Perce,

PS Any news yet on why you worship a god that's indifferent to slavery?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 02:06:04 PM
No, it's exploitation, it's illegal, there is legal recourse, there are active government policies prohibiting it, it's fundamentally different from slavery which wasn't just those practical concerns but it was the normalisation of those, it was the state actively impressing those conditions on people, not criminals having to do so in the dark crevices of society.

If you can't grasp how that makes things fundamentally different, I'm not sure how I can explain it to you any more simply.

O.
Outrider. The modern slavery act 2015 or as you would have it The modern not actually slavery Act is I understand it partly a consolidation of all slavery legislation.
So prior to 2015 people are getting done for slavery as they are post 2015. This demonstrates that if people are being prosecuted and declared guilty then a defence of it isnt actually slaveryis not recognised.

You and Hillside have thus made yourselves look foolish.

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 02:13:24 PM
Perce,

Quote
Outrider. The modern slavery act 2015 or as you would have it The modern not actually slavery Act is I understand it partly a consolidation of all slavery legislation.
So prior to 2015 people are getting done for slavery as they are post 2015. This demonstrates that if people are being prosecuted and declared guilty then a defence of it isnt actually slaveryis not recognised.

You and Hillside have thus made yourselves look foolish.

I corrected you about that in Reply 195:

Quote
Because it's "An Act to make provision about slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour and about human trafficking, including provision for the protection of victims;... " The Act uses "slavery" in its title as short form description for all such offences, but does not say that they all meet the more narrow legal definition of slavery.

If you weren't so determined to misrepresent what people actually say and instead bothered to look it up yourself you wouldn't keep embarrassing yourself like this.

Why then are you lying about it now?

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 02:18:12 PM
Perce,

I see you haven’t take my advice to make your lying less obvious then:

Our conscience decides namely the faculty which detects the moral landscape. No moral landscape no morality........Morality is a redundant term in any other scenario.

Reply 125

That if you like and even if you don’t like is bollocks.
Any other explanation of morality leaves the term morality redundant. Any explanation that leaves it intact is better than one which makes it redundant.

So there is a moral reality or the whole thing is effectively just arsepull of the type you wouldn’t even dream of engaging with if it was just ordinary reasoning which was involved.”


Reply 127

“The term redundant is used to refer to the phrase Moral behaviour as properly understood in say empiricism and naturalism. Since all we can do effectively is observe behaviour and anything like any capacity to detect a moral landscape is rejected then the word moral here is meaningless and a mere label. So in a phrase like moral behaviour the ''moral'' part is unnecessary and therefore redundant because of the sufficiency of the term behaviour.

Since no self respecting materialist, empiricist, naturalist would tolerate any serious mention of 'Beautiful' behaviour or 'classy' behaviour why should we take the term moral behaviour as used by the same people any more seriously and why do they?”

Reply 131

“Only in fantasy Hillside if the word moral is effectively a redundant word in the phrase 'moral question' because if  ''moral'' is what you wanna make it anyway (which is what you are about to argue), then they are not actually disagreeing on moral questions........So anything you might have to say isn't now worth the trouble.”

Reply 135

“How can it be irrelevant when apparently anything is relevant as far as morality goes. Anything less than moral reality and the word morality is fucking irrelevant, sense free and fucking empty for goodness sake.”

Reply 136

If you are saying well actually morality isn't really real then the word moral becomes redundant. Any subsequent piece containing the word moral is redundant. That is why I gave your last post.....The last post.”

Reply 139

So now you’ve been caught out again, and as you just claimed to have demonstrated something rather than just asserted it perhaps you’d be good enough to tell us after all this time what the demonstration is. 

What’s stopping you?
So much for your bullshit "No argument has been made" and.
Nothing in what I said equating to YOUR phrase "Human made morality is redundant."

 What you seem to be doing here is what you always do. Strut out on stage like some kind of Lord Flasheart deliver some flowery bollocks to the gallery and hope they run off for a celebratory wristie not noticing what utter wank it is.
Again I have said nothing suggesting genuine morality is redundant.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 02:32:44 PM
Perce,

Quote
So much for your bullshit "No argument has been made" and….

You made no arguments – just assertions. Why bother pretending otherwise?

Quote
Nothing in what I said equating to YOUR phrase "Human made morality is redundant."

And the lies keep on coming. You said (Reply 125): “Morality is a redundant term in any other scenario.”

Are you now suggesting that human-made made morality isn’t “any other scenario”?

Quote
What you seem to be doing here is what you always do. Strut out on stage like some kind of Lord Flasheart deliver some flowery bollocks to the gallery and hope they run off for a celebratory wristie not noticing what utter wank it is.

Tantrum over? Good. Now then, about your abject failure to produce even a scintilla of an argument to justify your assertions about “any other scenario” morality being "redundant", "arse pull", "turd polishing", "not real" etc. Any thoughts?

Or should we conclude that you have no argument at all for that, and that your claim to have demonstrated it was just another of your lies?

Quote
Again I have said nothing suggesting genuine morality is redundant.

Again, that’s just your straw man. Where you’ve crashed and burned though is in your failure to justify your asserted but un-argued belief about what “genuine morality” must be.   

Perhaps it’s time you stopped lying about that?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 23, 2020, 02:48:57 PM
The modern slavery act 2015 or as you would have it The modern not actually slavery Act is I understand it partly a consolidation of all slavery legislation.

And the Modern Slavery (capitalised, because it's a proper noun in part to point out that it's not the conventional usage of 'slave') applies wherever a 'person holds another in slavery or servitude'... so even the legislation that you're citing - which very clearly is making the activity ILLEGAL, not legalising it, differentiates between slavery and other forms of exploitation.  This is explicitly based upon Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that people shall be free of slavery or forced labour... so also not limited to slavery.

Quote
So prior to 2015 people are getting done for slavery as they are post 2015. This demonstrates that if people are being prosecuted and declared guilty then a defence of it isnt actually slaveryis not recognised.

No, because the legislation wisely includes other forms of servitude into 'Modern Slavery'.

Quote
You and Hillside have thus made yourselves look foolish.

Only to the extent that we keep coming back and expecting something better from you.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 04:06:24 PM
Outy,

Quote
Only to the extent that we keep coming back and expecting something better from you.

I believe St Jude is the patron saint of lost causes. I’ll have us a couple of medallions made up...
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 04:12:21 PM
And the Modern Slavery (capitalised, because it's a proper noun in part to point out that it's not the conventional usage of 'slave') applies wherever a 'person holds another in slavery or servitude'... so even the legislation that you're citing - which very clearly is making the activity ILLEGAL, not legalising it, differentiates between slavery and other forms of exploitation.  This is explicitly based upon Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that people shall be free of slavery or forced labour... so also not limited to slavery.

No, because the legislation wisely includes other forms of servitude into 'Modern Slavery'.

Only to the extent that we keep coming back and expecting something better from you.

O.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_21st_century
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 04:21:49 PM
Perce,

Quote
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_21st_century

What point do you think your'e making?

Oh, and whether you use the formal definition or the more generic catchall term why do you worship a god who's indifferent to any of it? 


Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 04:29:56 PM
One bollocks atheist argument jumped over another atheists arguments back and another bollocks atheist argument jumped over another atheist arguments back and the first bollocks atheist argument jumped over the second atheists back and the second bollocks atheist argument jumped over the third bollocks atheist arguments back.

They were only playing leapfrog
They were only playing leapfrog
They were only playing leapfrog
As the third bollocks atheist argument jumped over the fourth atheist arguments back.

I'll get me coat.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 23, 2020, 04:40:09 PM
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_21st_century

"Contemporary slavery, also known as modern slavery or neo-slavery, refers to institutional slavery that continues to occur in present-day society."

So, three different qualifications of slavery there, none of which constitutes just, you know, ACTUAL slavery.  I've made the distinction, and I've made it for a reason; I've not defended or ignored the very real damage the activities that constitute Modern Slavery do, and I've explained why I think there's a real distinction to be made there.

Now, given that, what are you trying to achieve here?  Even if I were to accede to the nonsense idea that there's no difference between the sort of slavery that took place in, say, the 1800s and Modern Slavery, in what way would that demonstrate that the original acts were not perpetrate largely by Christians, in many explicitly in part because of their interpretation of Christianity which was the initial point.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights - a secular production - explicitly outlaws both actual slavery and Modern Slavery, whilst the scripture of Christianity gives rules for how to appropriately apply and encourages slaves to be obedient and accept their lot.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 04:41:58 PM
Perce,

Quote
One bollocks atheist argument jumped over another atheists arguments back and another bollocks atheist argument jumped over another atheist arguments back and the first bollocks atheist argument jumped over the second atheists back and the second bollocks atheist argument jumped over the third bollocks atheist arguments back.

They were only playing leapfrog
They were only playing leapfrog
They were only playing leapfrog
As the third bollocks atheist argument jumped over the fourth atheist arguments back.

Latest tantrum over? Good. Now then, any chance of you finally attempting at least an argument of your own or are you determined to rely on insult in the hope you'll get away with it that way?

Quote
I'll get me coat.

What with all that crashing and burning you've been doing I'm surprised you'd need one.

Anyway, should we now abandon any hope at all of you finally managing an argument to justify your un-argued assertion about what "genuine" morality must be?

Anything?

No? 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 23, 2020, 04:44:59 PM
Perce,

Latest tantrum over? Good. Now then, any chance of you finally attempting at least an argument of your own or are you determined to rely on insult in the hope you'll get away with it that way?

What with all that crashing and burning you've been doing I'm surprised you'd need one.

Anyway, should we now abandon any hope at all of you finally managing an argument to justify your un-argued assertion about what "genuine" morality must be?

Anything?

No?
Tantrum? :-\. Taking the piss out of you :D
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 04:51:06 PM
Perce,

Quote
Tantrum? :-\. Taking the piss out of you :D

That'll be more evidence of the Dunning-Kruger effect making its ever-welcome return then:

"The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence.[1]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 23, 2020, 05:03:50 PM
Perce,

So after all your lying, insults, prevarication, diversionary tactics and general fucking around we can sum up your position about morality thus:

“I Perce believe the only “genuine” morality to be some sort of objective property of the universe that certain believers can identify by reference to various “holy” books, but only the ones I happen to think are the real ones. I cannot or will not however even attempt an argument to justify this remarkable assertion such that anyone else should take the claim seriously.”   

Fair enough?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 24, 2020, 08:36:03 AM
Perce,

So after all your lying, insults, prevarication, diversionary tactics and general fucking around we can sum up your position about morality thus:

“I Perce believe the only “genuine” morality to be some sort of objective property of the universe that certain believers can identify by reference to various “holy” books, but only the ones I happen to think are the real ones. I cannot or will not however even attempt an argument to justify this remarkable assertion such that anyone else should take the claim seriously.”   

Fair enough?
I Hillside have taken the words Cultural Hegemony........crossed them out.........and with my bestest crayon have written “Morrils” instead.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 24, 2020, 08:50:59 AM
I Hillside have taken the words Cultural Hegemony........crossed them out.........and with my bestest crayon have written “Morrils” instead.

We have collectively generated a set of acceptable behaviours which, over time, we have expanded and amended and adjusted with an eye to improving our lot - what's your alternative?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 24, 2020, 08:58:07 AM
Perce,

That'll be more evidence of the Dunning-Kruger effect making its ever-welcome return then:

"The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence.[1]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Jowelsquivering and Sweat issuing profusely from the sides of his fleshy dome like head, Vlad cautiously entered. Bondsides steely features emerged into the half light. A firefight ensued but an instinctive ceasefire ensued as The long fingers of  Japanese Masterspy Miss SuDo turned on the lights of the lean to.

Bond side spoke first......”That’s a Smith and Wesson Vladfinger....and you’ve had your six”. No more was said as Bondside emptied the last barrel of his Dunning Kruger into Vladfingers well fed form.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 24, 2020, 09:06:28 AM
Jowelsquivering and Sweat issuing profusely from the sides of his fleshy dome like head, Vlad cautiously entered. Bondsides steely features emerged into the half light. A firefight ensued but an instinctive ceasefire ensued as The long fingers of  Japanese Masterspy Miss SuDo turned on the lights of the lean to.

Bond side spoke first......”That’s a Smith and Wesson Vladfinger....and you’ve had your six”. No more was said as Bondside emptied the last barrel of his Dunning Kruger into Vladfingers well fed form.

You sound as if you require a few barrels of very strong coffee. ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 24, 2020, 09:09:12 AM
We have collectively generated a set of acceptable behaviours which, over time, we have expanded and amended and adjusted with an eye to improving our lot - what's your alternative?

O.
What is it that makes them acceptable? Who is we.

My alternative is a moral realism which is centred on the universe being beloved of God.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 24, 2020, 09:11:01 AM
You sound as if you require a few barrels of very strong coffee. ;D ;D ;D
You certainly sound as though you need a couple of barrels.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 24, 2020, 09:13:46 AM
What is it that makes them acceptable? Who is we.

We are the people it applies to.  What makes it acceptable is that it's part of the social contract we're all invested in to one degree or another.

Quote
My alternative is a moral realism which is centred on the universe being beloved of God.

So fairy stories and the delegation of moral responsibility to someone else... how is following instructions 'moral'?

What's the source of this morality - is your god choosing what's moral or not (in which case why is their decision any more valid than ours?) or are they revealing some underlying absolute morality (in which case how do we know they've interpreted it correctly?)

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 24, 2020, 09:43:12 AM
We are the people it applies to.  What makes it acceptable is that it's part of the social contract we're all invested in to one degree or another.

So fairy stories and the delegation of moral responsibility to someone else... how is following instructions 'moral'?

What's the source of this morality - is your god choosing what's moral or not (in which case why is their decision any more valid than ours?) or are they revealing some underlying absolute morality (in which case how do we know they've interpreted it correctly?)

O.
I’ m sorry but you are still in my view nowhere near having any mechanism of moral arbitration because it cannot be without a point of reference which exists other than everyone having there own.
Now there are atheist moral realists so we are having more of a philosophical debate.

If there is a moral reference point it’s nature cannot be unconscious since unconscious material has not one iota of morality about it and that is why an ultimate moral being is proposed.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 24, 2020, 09:52:40 AM
I’ m sorry but you are still in my view nowhere near having any mechanism of moral arbitration because it cannot be without a point of reference which exists other than everyone having there own.

Why are you beholden to some external source of morality - why can morality not be our collective agreement on what's appropriate or desirable behaviour?

Quote
Now there are atheist moral realists so we are having more of a philosophical debate.

There may well be, I'd put the same question to them.

Quote
If there is a moral reference point it’s nature cannot be unconscious since unconscious material has not one iota of morality about it and that is why an ultimate moral being is proposed.

But that's only after you've decided that humanity isn't a sufficient source for morality, which you've not explained.  And if you're reliant on a 'god' for your morality, why is it alright for that god to decide that what's moral has changed, but it's not OK for us to do the same?

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 24, 2020, 10:11:24 AM
Why are you beholden to some external source of morality - why can morality not be our collective agreement on what's appropriate or desirable behaviour?

There may well be, I'd put the same question to them.

But that's only after you've decided that humanity isn't a sufficient source for morality, which you've not explained.  And if you're reliant on a 'god' for your morality, why is it alright for that god to decide that what's moral has changed, but it's not OK for us to do the same?
If there is no external point of moral reference then it does then become more of a question of taste in which any supposed moral arbitration claimed is mere malarkey.

I’m not arguing that humanity is a sufficient source of morality.You are and I look forward to your non sentimental justification. As it happens humans are a source of immorality although I’m neither ruling SUFICIENT immorality in or out.

At the moment your moral theory suffers from a lack of moral arbitration with the added problem that you might be talking about something other than morality.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 24, 2020, 10:18:57 AM
If there is no external point of moral reference then it does then become more of a question of taste in which any supposed moral arbitration claimed is mere malarkey.

It's not malarkey, it's just not pretending that there's a definitive answer, that it's down to us to determine what we think are right and wrong in any given situation.

Quote
I’m not arguing that humanity is a sufficient source of morality.

But you are - you're saying that if we collectively have a system of morality that's somehow not enough, that it's "malarkey".

Quote
You are and I look forward to your non sentimental justification. As it happens humans are a source of immorality although I’m neither ruling SUFICIENT immorality in or out.

Humanity is the source of human behaviour, including the various judgements of that human behaviour, yes.

Quote
At the moment your moral theory suffers from a lack of moral arbitration with the added problem that you might be talking about something other than morality.

It doesn't lack attribution, it's just that you don't appear to like that attribution despite accepting that it's viable somehow.

O.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 24, 2020, 10:25:54 AM
Perce,

Quote
I Hillside have taken the words Cultural Hegemony........crossed them out.........and with my bestest crayon have written “Morrils” instead.

I'll take that as a "yes" then: after all your lying, insults, prevarication, diversionary tactics and general fucking around you do indeed think “genuine” morality to be some sort of objective property of the universe that certain believers can identify by reference to various “holy” books, but only the ones you happen to think are the real ones. You cannot or will not however even attempt an argument to justify this remarkable assertion such that anyone else should take the claim seriously.

Thought so.

Oh, and "hegemony" is wrong (I've cautioned you before about attempting long words you don't understand - you really should take that on board), but "provisionally formed from a mix of innate response and reasoning" is fine. Just like aesthetics is for example.     

   

Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 24, 2020, 11:23:16 AM
Perce,

Quote
If there is no external point of moral reference then it does then become more of a question of taste in which any supposed moral arbitration claimed is mere malarkey.

First, that’s your basic, common-or-garden argumentum ad consequentium fallacy: “If X, then consequence Y” (Y being something you don’t like the sound of), therefore X must be wrong”.

Second, “taste” is wrong but essentially morality being what we intuit and reason it to be is basically right.

Third, “moral arbitration” is fine at a personal and at societal levels because prevailing moral positions are those that achieve the greatest consensus. The notion that we should instead go to some ancient texts (but only the ones you happen to subscribe to) for a set of moral instructions that are often by moderns standards horrible, that don’t address at all sorts of important moral questions, and that are themselves often internally incoherent or contradictory is bizarre. 

Fourth (as I explained before and you just ignored) the analogy with aesthetics is still a perfectly good one (morality being if not an offshoot of aesthetics then at least a close cousin of it). Intuitively people respond positively and negatively to various images, sounds etc and consider them to be “good or “bad”, and often too they will add reason to support or change these positions. We do these things quite readily without appealing to some notion of universal standards for good/bad art, good/bad music etc so what’s so special about morality that it can’t work the same way?         
 
Quote
I’m not arguing that humanity is a sufficient source of morality.

Then you should be.

Quote
You are and I look forward to your non sentimental justification. As it happens humans are a source of immorality although I’m neither ruling SUFICIENT immorality in or out.

Gibberish.

Quote
At the moment your moral theory suffers from a lack of moral arbitration…

No it doesn’t – see above.

Quote
…with the added problem that you might be talking about something other than morality.

Only if we accept your assertion about what “genuine morality” must be, but as we know you’re unable to produce an argument to justify that claim there’s no reason so far at least to take it seriously. 
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 24, 2020, 11:52:07 AM
It's not malarkey, it's just not pretending that there's a definitive answer, that it's down to us to determine what we think are right and wrong in any given situation.

But you are - you're saying that if we collectively have a system of morality that's somehow not enough, that it's "malarkey".

Humanity is the source of human behaviour, including the various judgements of that human behaviour, yes.

It doesn't lack attribution, it's just that you don't appear to like that attribution despite accepting that it's viable somehow.

O.
or it could be there is an actual moral focal point or moral reality.
Offering a viable alternative might be ok if only one of is offering moral theory and you think that if you offer a possibility it blows moral realism away but this is a case where we are both offering a moral theory....but it's hard to find morality or immorality in yours if it's actually foldable in yours.

What it does betray is pretence in holding the default position across the board.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 24, 2020, 12:01:15 PM
Perce,

Quote
or it could be there is an actual mroral focal point or moral reality.

It “could be” that there are tap dancing unicorns on Alpha Centauri too. How does a "could be" help you?

Quote
Offering a viable alternative might be ok…

It is OK because it has the signal advantage of being reason-based and, therefore, plausible.

Quote
…if only one of is offering moral theory and you think that if you offer a possibility it blows moral realism away but this is a case where we are both offering a moral theory....but it's hard to find morality or immorality in yours if it's actually foldable in yours.

Have you dropped a tin of alphabet soup and photoshopped the results into a reply or something? What are you even trying to say here?

Quote
What it does betray is pretence in holding the default position across the board.

Make that two tins.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 24, 2020, 12:03:43 PM
Perce,

First, that’s your basic, common-or-garden argumentum ad consequentium fallacy: “If X, then consequence Y” (Y being something you don’t like the sound of), therefore X must be wrong”.

Second, “taste” is wrong but essentially morality being what we intuit and reason it to be is basically right.

Third, “moral arbitration” is fine at a personal and at societal levels because prevailing moral positions are those that achieve the greatest consensus. The notion that we should instead go to some ancient texts (but only the ones you happen to subscribe to) for a set of moral instructions that are often by moderns standards horrible, that don’t address at all sorts of important moral questions, and that are themselves often internally incoherent or contradictory is bizarre. 

Fourth (as I explained before and you just ignored) the analogy with aesthetics is still a perfectly good one (morality being if not an offshoot of aesthetics then at least a close cousin of it). Intuitively people respond positively and negatively to various images, sounds etc and consider them to be “good or “bad”, and often too they will add reason to support or change these positions. We do these things quite readily without appealing to some notion of universal standards for good/bad art, good/bad music etc so what’s so special about morality that it can’t work the same way?         
 
Then you should be.

Gibberish.

No it doesn’t – see above.

Only if we accept your assertion about what “genuine morality” must be, but as we know you’re unable to produce an argument to justify that claim there’s no reason so far at least to take it seriously.
Sigh.....If it's just a question of taste then it is just cultural hegemony which decides what is good and bad making courts and conventions etc a form of cultural pantomime. If it is a form of aesthetics then the term morality becomes redundant. In any case there has to be a lot of let's pretend that in your explanation. You wouldn't accept that anywhere else.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 24, 2020, 12:04:37 PM
Sigh.....If it's just a question of taste then it is just cultural hegemony which decides what is good and bad making courts and conventions etc a form of cultural pantomime. If it is a form of aesthetics then the term morality becomes redundant. In any case there has to be a lot of" let's pretend that..." in your explanation. You wouldn't accept that anywhere else.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Outrider on July 24, 2020, 12:07:03 PM
Or it could be there is an actual moral focal point or moral reality.

It could be, but the specific entity that you're suggesting has been posited for over 2 millenia and at best hasn't been clear on what that moral reality is.

Quote
Offering a viable alternative might be ok if only one of is offering moral theory and you think that if you offer a possibility it blows moral realism away but this is a case where we are both offering a moral theory....but it's hard to find morality or immorality in yours if it's actually foldable in yours.

Pinning your hopes on the unreliable evidence for what appears to be a capricious independent source of moral reality doesn't seem to be a better plan, especially given the track record of morality deployed by those working from that source material.

Quote
What it does betray is pretence in holding the default position across the board.

What?  What does what betray?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on July 24, 2020, 12:08:25 PM
Perce,

It “could be” that there are tap dancing unicorns on Alpha Centauri too. How does a "could be" help you?

It is OK because it has the signal advantage of being reason-based and, therefore, plausible.

Have you dropped a tin of alphabet soup and photoshopped the results into a reply or something? What are you even trying to say here?

Make that two tins.
Thin stuff.

 I understand that to catch anything meaningfully moral in your moral theory scientists will be putting a tank of liquid nitrogen in a deep mine under Essex to detect any interaction at al.
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 24, 2020, 12:12:07 PM
Perce,

Quote
Sigh.....If it's just a question of taste then it is just cultural hegemony which decides what is good and bad making courts and conventions etc a form of cultural pantomime.

I just explained to you why this is wrong. Why have you ignored it?

Quote
If it is a form of aesthetics then the term morality becomes redundant.

So you assert, though you’re still unable to offer an argument to justify the claim. Couldn’t you even try to do that just for once? 

Quote
In any case there has to be a lot of let's pretend that in your explanation.

What “let’s pretend” do you think there is in a reason-based, plausible explanation for morality?

Quote
You wouldn't accept that anywhere else.

I don’t accept it here either – it’s just something else you’ve made up.

Do you have any arguments to make, or are unqualified (and incoherent) assertions all you have?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 24, 2020, 12:14:13 PM
Perce,

Quote
Thin stuff.

But no argument to explain why.

Quote
I understand that to catch anything meaningfully moral in your moral theory scientists will be putting a tank of liquid nitrogen in a deep mine under Essex to detect any interaction at al.


Gibberish noted. Still no arguments though.

What’s stopping you?
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: Roses on July 24, 2020, 12:23:21 PM
Vlad appears to be high as a kite today, I wonder what other substances he is taking as well as alcohol? ;D
Title: Re: The crisis in Morality
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on July 24, 2020, 12:37:03 PM
Floo,

He seems to have Od’d on assertion pills. Sadly though his argument pills were lost in the post...