T_Clark

Sorry, this slipped through the cracks and I didn’t respond. The OP and I had a fruitless discussion of this issue in a previous thread. That’s why I ...

As they say—great minds. I just happened to have an electronic copy of the Chuang Tzu on Kindle.

If I were to make a list of the people here on the forum I consider pragmatists, you would be near the top of the list, whether or not you think of yo...

True, but it would still be there whether or not those people found it useful. It’s current usefulness is irrelevant to it’s existence. I don’t think ...

I don’t think this is right. As I understand it, nature is what happens all by itself, without goal, purpose, meaning, or use. All of these characteri...

I did say “amusing”

Here’s something else. It’s from. Ziporyn’s translation of the Chuang Tzu:

Welcome to the forum. This is a good OP (original post). I consider myself a pragmatist. Usefulness is the primary standard by which I judge knowledge...

Yes. I was thinking the same thing. My family and the people I care about are pretty much enough meaning for me. Yes. With an emphasis on “for most hu...

in spite of @"Jamal"’s snotty, if amusing, dismissal, I think this is a good summary. In my experience, failure to agree on definitions at the beginni...

I’ll talk about the quality of writing, not necessarily the quality of the ideas, although I guess it’s not easy to separate them. There’s a quote I r...

I say: And you say: So at least we agree on something. And I’ll stand behind the statistics I provided. I think they tell the story. Except, of course...

Futile maybe, but not immoral. Not coy, just obscure.

Sorry, you’ve lost me.

As far as I’m concerned, that’s outside the scope of this discussion. All I did was point out that it was primarily a moral issue and not a political ...

Neither.

I wrote: You responded: Are you saying that a belief doesn’t have to be justified in order to be valid or useable? Or are you saying that a justified ...

By whatever definition of belief, truth, or knowledge you apply, it is generally recognized that a belief has to be justified in order to be valid or ...

By what standard are human beings not also commonplace matter?

This sounds like a discussion we’ve had before. Probably no good reason to rehash it.

I don’t understand. How is my presupposition any different from your positing of a transcendent ground of being? This shows a lack of understanding of...

I would’ve thought more it was a question of morality.

First point— this has nothing to do with psychoanalysis. Second point— the only thing that can be concluded from what you’ve written is that the Holoc...

I agree. Maybe it would be better to say intuition is a mechanism by which trust and faith often work. This is true, and the things you’ve said about ...

But granting a right as an entitlement is not. Your formulation is a common justification for denial of deserved protections.

Perhaps. But I think what @"javra" was describing could be called faith—or maybe intuition—as well as trust. As I understand it, all three are based s...

I agree with this, although I will pull the old switcheroo and use that hated word “faith.” I think the two words are very close to synonymous.

Now that I’ve given the rigidly literal meaning of the word “trust,” I’ll give one with a bit more nuance. This is from Ellen Marie Chen’s translation...

Oxford American Dictionary says—believe in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

Interesting, keeping in mind I was not arguing for or against pantheism, only that, as I understand it, pantheism and panpsychism are different things...

You are forgiven.

I’m all done.

This strikes me as complete baloney. Where did you get your numbers from? I speculate the true number is in the hundreds of millions or billions world...

You took one of the many ones I provided—the vaguest and hardest to define. Here are the others:

This is disingenuous. The ACLU listing includes many concrete and specific rights that many people would consider fundamental. Yet you’ve picked out t...

I don’t think you’re qualified to say that. Maybe I’m wrong. I think one big thing gay people and transgender people have in common is that, to a larg...

Not long ago homosexuality was considered a mental health issue. It no longer is. Certainly, I don’t see this as a matter of law, but one of culture. ...

I’m not sure I understand the distinction you’ve made and I’m not qualified to specify any particular evolutionary mechanism. Humans and other animals...

That’s what social rules, laws, the police, and public shaming are for—social control. As I intimated in a previous post on this thread, ethics and mo...

The civil rights act of 1964 in the US designated certain classes of people as having protection of certain rights against discrimination. Those class...

I saw @"Joshs" response to this. Here are my thoughts. It’s not that humans have to or ought to see others as similar to themselves, it’s that they te...

This makes sense, but I don’t think it contradicts what @"panwei" has written. I think it makes sense too say, or at least consider, that the fact we ...

Another thought. I think maybe this emphasis on biology and evolution underplays the importance of culture and learning on our personal moral judgment...

A very good OP. I was going to argue with this. As I see it, all political judgment is underlaid buy a value judgment about what the responsibility of...

For me, it all comes down to choice. As I understand it, some people don’t have that choice. That’s called gender dysphoria. Strikes me as a little da...

I’m surprised you have this attitude, which isn’t the same as saying I disagree with you.

And I will try to keep my responses less antagonistic in the future.

I regret that I brought in the subject of civil versus human rights. That really confused things. Beyond that, I suspect neither of us thinks the othe...

Welcome to the forum Yes, I think you are over interpreting this. On the other hand, it’s a good idea to reread your post before you finally post it. ...

I read your OP twice and I stand by behind my main criticism. The source you use to generate your list of human rights left out the most important par...