T_Clark

There is no philosophy. It's built into us. It is something we do and were meant to do. What is your philosophy of eating and drinking? Which isn't to...

Well...., yeah....., No. By your logic, not only all X is Y, also all Z is Y, where Z is not having sex when you are able and fertile. For males, mast...

I went on the web and here are some ideas about the difference: morals are how you treat people you know. Ethics are how you treat people you don’t kn...

I probably couldn't make a strong case that agriculture is more important. One thing that your suggestions and mine have in common - They happened a l...

I'll go with agriculture. The case can be made that it lay the social groundwork for almost everything listed above.

I'm not sure what it means either. As I said in one of my posts, I've been told that something can be ethical and still wrong. The example used was th...

I agree, it could. As I said in a previous post: If, as you say, it could be ethical to kill millions of innocent people, I don't think we have enough...

I didn't claim it's an uncommon thought. Anyway, compassion is not the same as empathy. That's not what I meant by "letting go of hopes." There was no...

Why is defining "ethical" ok, but defining "moral" is pointless? It strikes me that they are at the same level of abstraction and deal with similar is...

I think we agree on this part. I don't think that's a good argument, but let's change slavery to genocide.

Both our approaches use the same method to determine whether an ethical goal has been met - an appeal to personal preference. The difference is in the...

That could be used to justify slavery. I think my standard is much less vague than yours is.

I was about to say that myself. Yes that's irony. I found an article on the web - "The Algorithmic Origins of Life," by Walker and Davies, which I enj...

I don't think it's vague at all. As I said in my post, it is completely personal - it's based on what I personally mean by "Try to see people as they ...

I don't see acting ethically, if that's the right word for what I try to do, as the supporting "the highest common interest of all sentient beings." T...

Apokrisis: I have really appreciated you input on this thread and also on "Why Can't the Universe be Contracting?" I've put "Life's Ratchet" on my rea...

How can Apokrisis be barging in? Back on Page 1, I asked him to participate:

I like your formulation. It's something I've thought about a lot. My natural inclination is to let anyone say anything. It is good spiritual practice ...

Really interesting and really well written, but I think you are talking about yourself and not "the physicist." Just a look at the arguments about the...

The underlying metaphysical underpinning of science is the assumption that things are as they have always been and will always be. That's the leap of ...

For me, it has always seemed that the scientific assumptions - processes operating today are the same as those that have been operating forever and at...

Well, it does undermine the very basis of empiricism. Is that what you mean by "ideological reasons?" It's more a methodological reason. Science can o...

I'll say to you what I said to Jeremiah, you're just playing games with language.

What do I get out of it? It doesn't make me feel good about myself. I doesn't take away any guilt. I'm not doing it to strengthen the social structure...

This seems inconsistent with what you said earlier: So, a goal is different from a reason?

My understanding of the word "intent" is that it refers to an action with a goal, while your jumping on one foot apparently doesn't have one. Isn't th...

Seriously, have you never just done something to help someone because you put yourself in their position, felt compassion, and saw there was something...

It is my understanding that there is a great deal of the universe which is, even theoretically, unreachable from here because it is receding from us f...

Really interesting. I'll look up Damasio.

I don't get it. I'm being polite. I'm being responsive to the OP. In a situation like this, since you are expressing a controversial opinion, I think ...

In what way am I trying to silence you? It is not condescending of me to point out that your position may not be credible. What is your background? Wh...

I am suspicious of theories rejected by the consensus of the scientific community. If you look, there are lots of people that say relativity and quant...

I'm not sure what you mean about reasons. There aren't any reasons. It's just how it works, in my experience at least.

Not at all. I'm not saying "be like I want or I won't be with you." I'm saying "I love you, but I can't be with you." I was just thinking about how to...

As I said before, we'll have to wait for someone who knows more than I to carry this on further. Hey, I just thought of something. Maybe Australia is ...

In my experience of my own decision making process, emotions play a very large role. I think that's what they're there for, why they were built into u...

I don't think there is a center of the universe. If there is, and if we were moving toward it, we would be moving away from some galaxies and toward o...

As I said in the post you refer to: I think you and I are talking about different things. All real love is one sided. It is given, not exchanged, not ...

We're reaching the limits of my knowledge. I don't understand what you mean when you say "contracting away from us." Galaxies are moving away from us ...

And it's not really about explaining either, although it's nice to know you are seen. I rarely say "I love you." I do at the airport when my children ...

Well, first of all, it is nice to be talking about unconditional love instead of talking about talking about unconditional love like in "Unconditional...

If it were contracting, there would be a blue shift.

If you're like me, as a teenager you spent all the time you should have been doing productive things reading science fiction and looking for sex in th...

It is my understanding that the evidence is, as you say, the red shift. It's not that everything is moving away from us, everything is moving away fro...

Well thought out and expressed, although I've never liked Robert Heinlein's writing.

As I, and others, have said before, you have lost yourself, or are intentionally hiding, in a maze of words. We're talking about an experience, your t...

Um....

I don't think that is the main issue. That's whether the family can provide a secure place for the children that will remain stable and consistent whi...

Do what you want, but from a societal point of view, the important thing is protection of families and, in particular, children. Can a polygamous/poly...

In my experience, happy people have a more clear and direct understanding of life and reality than unhappy people do. Unhappy people, with whom this s...