TheMadFool

Interesting. So inter-dependence isn't vertical (simple to complex) but rather horizontal (everything in relation to something else)? I find this hard...

I see no other option but for a reductionist philosophy to be materialistic. How does one be reductionist in a non-materialistic worldview? You'd simp...

Let's take the perfect state of goodness, altruism. Even the best altruist gains something from being good. You can't deny that the altruist is happy ...

I think @"T Clark" might have something to say about this. I don't know. Speaking in very general terms, rationality applied to ethics hasn't resulted...

That's something very interesting. Contrary to what you think I feel our ''heart'' is a misconception of the ancients. Modern science has ''proven'' t...

Well, you're right. Consequentialism has practical uses; as I said we instinctively look to effects of our actions. In a sense it's like scientific th...

Very interesting remark. Point well made. The Trolley problem is, as you said, a hypothetical and, thereby you claim it misses the mark in being pract...

I have something to say about reductionism but it's very weak compared to what I want. I do think that we can pick something, anything for that matter...

Yes and No. Yes because there's something to gain from being altruistic and you can't deny that. No, because it's impossible to do anything without th...

I was hoping for someone to attack the notion of Sunyata = reductionism because reductionism is materialistic in nature. Yet, here we have a religion ...

Exactly. We are motivated by incentives rather than by moral considerations. Don't you find that immoral?

Thanks for pointing out what the story is about. However, one takeaway, relevant to consequentialism, is effects/consequences of actions/events are un...

No problem. I'm not sure too. Thanks anyway

Each time a something happens (consequence), people are congratulating or consoling the farmer as the case may be. This is consequentialism, no? The f...

You have a very optimistic view on our moral standards. I share this view but I'm also quite scared that all the good we see in this world is just a t...

Very interesting. I was just thinking on determinism and free will. My thoughts aren't clear enough to deserve a post though. Peace, different from ha...

You have a point. If you do the math then, yes, there are more law-abiding people around than criminals. But don't forget our proclivities. Look at wh...

In a nutshell, the future is open, brimming with possibilities and one of them is that God can come into existence. Toning down on the omni-powers of ...

I know the real proof is very complex but it seems to rely on a modified form of the Liar's paradox. Can you explain where I went wrong. Thanks

How many people are out there doing charity work? Compare that to how many criminals are out there? Why do we have CCTV cameras? Why do we have punish...

I think forbidding something, as the law does, is to acknowledge our propensity for evil. That's a different topic but how does ''dependence'' transla...

I'm in agreement here. I've said this many times on the forum: The universe is in flux, it's dynamic and changing every moment. To think otherwise - t...

I edited my OP. Please have a look again if you like.

I've stated the obvious haven't I? Do worms have anything to do with morality? What are your views?

Are there more of them? On average, are people more evil than good?

That's a fair point but I read somewhere that morality has two dimensions viz. Good and obligatory, Bad and forbidden. To take your example, respectin...

Evolution, some say, has no goal. It's purposeless, blind and is simply random mutation of genes interacting with a changing environment. The ''higher...

I think the "problem" lies in humans being at the boundary between animal and something else. The faculty of reason seems to be crystallizing in the h...

I couldn't answer the OP's question directly because it depends on the meaning of "exist". Too much speculation - healthy, yes, but not verifiable in ...

No, I'm not. The lexical definitions I've used are adequate for the message I want to convey.

Active numbers have causal import. Numbers can cause things to happen. Passive numbers are, very roughly speaking, the effects of active numbers and c...

There is a difference between humans and other animals. It's our ''superior'' intellect and this permeates every other aspect of our mind, including d...

I think numbers are some form of code in the sense of a computer program AND in the sense of language. Numbers can carry information that is both pass...

I'm using terms like ''rules'', ''evil'', ''good'', ''bad'' as defined in common dictionaries. Do we really need to go further or deeper than that?

Have I left anything out?

X-) (Y)

I guess crime or rather its low rate is some sort of parameter in ''measuring'' happiness or wellbeing. My own observation is that people are just wai...

I guess without hard numbers it doesn't make sense to generalize. I wonder why there are no altruistic statistics when we have loads of crime statisti...

I have very little faith in collective intelligence of the masses but I think they're right on morality.

You have a point there. The ''we'' in my OP is too broad for some like you who are, may I say, good people. Yet, there is this tendency to generalize ...

And what else could it be?

Cost: the amount of money spent to produce x Price: the financial reward from selling x Value: what x is worth to your customer As you can see, value ...

I couldn't find a better word than ''evil''. As you say, it could be like an old coat that no longer fits and is best discarded. But how would we cate...

:D. Any objections?

What means objective morality? According to you it's something that isn't about personal likes and dislikes. Put in different words it's not something...

Wherever the shoe pinches, you still can't walk. I just thought of something. The causal web consists of two kinds of factors: 1. Free agents: people,...

That's true. Which side is winning? To me it seems society, everywhere, is rigged to explode. All we need is a tiny spark to set it off. What I mean i...

I have a real world example. USA supported the Taliban, calling them freedom fighters during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Taliban were the go...

Something is always better than nothing but that puts consequentialism on the backfoot. I shouldn't be happy I got sushi if the only thing on the menu...

I agree that consequences, their anticipation and manipulation, form 99.99% of our daily activity; much as @"Hanover" said. However, my issue is not w...