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Isaac

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Yes, but as I've just pointed out above, we don't really need to have a big discussion. The age of consent is 14 in Germany, they're fine, job done. A...
September 27, 2019 at 16:42
Well, whether it helped you or not, it was an honest attempt to answer your question. I'll try again. 1. The purpose of discussions like these is for ...
September 27, 2019 at 16:37
No it isn't, otherwise they'd be a competency test to entitle one to vote. There is an estimation of competency made in some case, but not in the case...
September 27, 2019 at 16:23
No - we don't, that's the point. We do not do both with any other section of the community, so I'm asking you why it's OK with adolescents. It's not O...
September 27, 2019 at 12:40
Really, what 'biology' would this be? I can assure you that I take the attempt to suppress the autonomy of an entire demographic on spurious 'biologic...
September 27, 2019 at 12:14
Well, if you have any evidence whatsoever for any of that, it would certainly make an interesting read.
September 27, 2019 at 11:40
If I linked to a description of sex trafficking rings and debt-prostitution rackets with adult women would that suggest we should make it illegal for ...
September 27, 2019 at 11:37
Well, I'm glad @"Bitter Crank" has put a first toe out of line as I'd be reluctant to be the only gainsayer in such a contentious topic, but a lot of ...
September 27, 2019 at 09:14
I already answered that. With examples. I already answered that too. Your latest question was So I answered that too. Then you start in with... ...in ...
September 27, 2019 at 07:09
@"Echarmion" is already following this exact same line of argument. I won't bother duplicating unless I think I have something different to add. The s...
September 27, 2019 at 07:00
OK, so we may have different ideas of what a discussion is, and I'm sure as soon as I present mine, you'll pick at some specific aspect of the wording...
September 27, 2019 at 06:53
Right. You're getting somewhere. But now, with proper account taken of subsets, your premise 2 is far less plausible. It's gone from implying that sim...
September 26, 2019 at 20:29
Simple. Its neither 'weight' nor 'importance' of consensus, its the liklihood of broad confirmity and the usefulness in discussion of assuming it.
September 26, 2019 at 15:22
Yeah, whatever. I'm gradually learning I feel much better about my involvement here if I just stop responding when it gets to this kind of crap. "You ...
September 26, 2019 at 15:18
I'm not talking about positive or negative values sensu lato, I'm referring to moral values. I'm sorry if I've caused any confusion with sloppy shorth...
September 26, 2019 at 13:28
You of all people should know that knowledge claims are not based on absolute proof, come on! Again, this is rather disingenuous considering your usua...
September 26, 2019 at 13:15
I'm saying that moral valuing can reasonably be said to be an activity that healthy, undamaged minds do. Healthy, undamaged minds are machines, the ra...
September 26, 2019 at 12:36
The term 'correct' applies here to that which does not go beyond an assumed range of moral foundational positions (what @"S" is describing as "absurd ...
September 26, 2019 at 09:15
Let me try to explain the set objection like this. Consider 3 dimensional measurement (depth, height, width). Measuring is something a subject does, a...
September 26, 2019 at 08:40
I'm not saying you can't invent them. I'm saying it's hugely significant to the process of normative discussions (like the one this thread is about) t...
September 26, 2019 at 08:25
Yes. The brain (which does the valuing) is just a machine. I can't think of any good reason at all not to think that the limits and trends we observe ...
September 26, 2019 at 08:14
Yes, but we also know something about human brains (the source of value). For some reason you're treating what we know about physics as being unequivo...
September 26, 2019 at 07:56
But there are no other standards. That's the point. In the real world (the one in which laws must be made), absolutely no-one is seriously proposing a...
September 26, 2019 at 07:43
How do you know it's not physically possible? We don't currently have any mechanism by which fundamental particles can be made to carry a human, but t...
September 26, 2019 at 07:32
Only if we were talking in absolutes, and I don't think there's any need to do that when it comes to morality. Anything is also ride-able (to take my ...
September 26, 2019 at 07:19
I think I see where you're going with this, but if I'm right it will run into the problem I highlighted (with no success) above. You are (correct me i...
September 26, 2019 at 07:10
Yes, this is the point that @"aletheist" was trying to make above (and having about as much luck as the rest of us in getting through to the OP). That...
September 26, 2019 at 06:56
This is the point we reached when you and I spoke about this last. I think the issue is that people are having a hard time believing that your gut ins...
September 24, 2019 at 13:18
Don't forget that moral realism includes all forms of ethical naturalism as well as some of the 'true to archetype' forms of virtue ethics, so the mor...
September 24, 2019 at 13:03
What? Why would only an idiot reject the existence of a flying spaghetti monster on the grounds of the complete lack of any evidence for one. That's t...
September 22, 2019 at 11:54
What on earth was that rant in aid of? Did I say the one making the claim always carries the burden of proof? You actually went to the trouble of quot...
September 22, 2019 at 10:04
I am not making the claim, you are. It a sign of a poor argument that you make outlandish claims and then pass the burden of proof to anyone opposing ...
September 21, 2019 at 07:46
This is certainly evidenced by the anthropological accounts, but doesn't this suggest that some moral feeling precedes a decision about who is in/out ...
September 21, 2019 at 07:08
Really? The 'powerful lineages' are easy to hold to account in Christian/religious cultures? Do you know how many cases of child abuse the Catholic Ch...
September 20, 2019 at 16:40
This is interesting, but potentially problematic, for me. If the in/out status of society members is not determined individually, then how do you reso...
September 20, 2019 at 16:27
By the way, I'm going out now so replies will be delayed. I know it's just an open forum, but it feels rude to just suddenly not reply for ages withou...
September 20, 2019 at 08:56
There isn't one. My point isn't that people don't want certain things for certain groups. It's that, if those groups are selected entirely to meet rel...
September 20, 2019 at 08:48
It wasn't, no, but it can be. I was originally talking about your direct quote in reference to it, which was "in tribal communities individuals are un...
September 20, 2019 at 08:44
It is if the list of things people want for various groups exhausts the list of things it is reasonably possible to want. It seems, depending on the g...
September 20, 2019 at 08:36
That's your argument? "You know as well as I do". What you are alluding to is the orthodox view among the uneducated. The orthodox view among experts ...
September 20, 2019 at 08:32
Right. And if 'their own communities' can be defined as small or specific as you like, then all you have is that people want harmony for themselves an...
September 20, 2019 at 08:20
Right, well in that case you'd need some evidence that in the famously egalitarian hunter-gatherer tribes, the 'chief' regularly abuses his/her power ...
September 20, 2019 at 08:18
You said "and what they would be entitled to would vary according to their roles (and their attendant importance to the community)" was the orthodox v...
September 20, 2019 at 08:14
Yes, and the idea of Jews not being part of 'their people' was a social more which caused disharmony. If I declare that me and my mate both want to go...
September 20, 2019 at 07:56
What there could be interpreted any other way than to suggest that people could do any action 'use of force' etc in the absence of religious laws? Wha...
September 20, 2019 at 07:52
I've outlined it for Echarmion above.
September 20, 2019 at 07:39
What? What do you think went on in Nazi Germany? They promoted mores which encouraged people to think of Jews as lesser humans. that, without a shadow...
September 20, 2019 at 07:38
That is not the orthodox view at all. It is your assertion of orthodoxy I'm asking for evidence of, not the actual view itself.
September 20, 2019 at 07:30
You made the claim, why am I being required to find contrary evidence. Surely, if you've made a strong claim like that you have empirical data to back...
September 20, 2019 at 07:29
They could have the goal of making as many statues with massive heads to appease their Gods as it's possible to make despite using up so much timber t...
September 20, 2019 at 07:17