Tom Storm

We seem to be doing pretty well agreeing about reality already. The precise nature of this shared exercise we call reality has been an open question t...

Nice. It seems to be the case that at some time the West became fixated by measuring/quantifying things and jettisoning other experiences. But perhaps...

Metaphysics is not my thing, so apologies. That said, my understanding is that our metaphysics amounts to a collaboration between ourselves and what i...

All he needed to know was that handkerchiefs are not really symbols of fidelity...:razz:

Sure.

I can't speak for Wayfarer but surely any metaphysics is always based on a human point of view. If we have described it, we co-created it. As an ideal...

I think this may be the most important point to bear in mind when one is trying to 'solve' a problem that has preoccupied some of our greatest thinker...

I think the idea of the blind spot is a metaphor for the failure to recognize a bias held by our own position - humans often assume a god-like, object...

Not sure if this helps, but you may recall that Sam Harris compares wellbeing in morality to 'health' in medicine. We have the science of medicine dev...

It would help if you didn't prejudge this. Yes, they accepted her words. They had no reason to think she knew anything. These were weekly door knocks ...

No. The Nazi scenario is not 'grossly unrealistic' - it happened to my grandparents in World War Two - German troops regularly went door to door askin...

I don't think religions need to have deities, I'm not even sure they need to involve the supernatural. I like part of Emile Durkheim's definition - “A...

:up:

Thanks - this is actually something I have wondered about.

I don't think this is what Derrida had in mind when he said 'there is nothing outside of the text' :wink:

Another thread on the Christian Trinity popped up. Surely this is theology?

No worries and thanks for being generous. Back to wisdom. So the issue of wisdom is a complex one and some dolts have been described as wise, that's f...

This may be true but I can't judge their merit, not being a biologist. I am very aware of people using what is rightly expert knowledge to argue a poi...

Thank you.

:pray:

:up:

Oh.. and yes, true enough.. Bye.

For whatever reason it seems to me you are not able to communicate as an honest interlocutor. No worries. Bye.

Yeah, it's a good point and I have wondered why some of these threads are here. Hasn't stopped me sticking my nose in like a schmuck....

Not it's not petty, it is asking what you mean by wiser? How does one measure an increase in wiseness? Please try to focus on philosophy and not on im...

Which question? The OP is asking:

I don't assume that. I see people make what they might call goals but these aims or 'ornaments' are often deflections and distractions from more signi...

Thanks. This seems to be to be a balanced and generous view. Do you subscribe to any form of idealism?

In relation to morality I don't really care for science or biology based arguments. I am not a scientist, so I don't know which tentative theory or so...

What does wiser mean?

Agree. I think wellbeing's chief function is as a foundation for social policy and law.

Why do you think many secular humanists are concerned about human rights and work hard to help others and improve human life? Do you think these impul...

No, I'm pointing to the fact that truth telling can kill people. If we ignore potential consequences we are a fools.

I think you have summarised nicely the shortfalls in the wellbeing argument. I have generally taken the view that for secular morality, wellbeing can ...

I think we have different world views. Err, it's not all about you... I was writing about 'the scenario' you dramatised. In essence we hold different ...

So many questions. I simply trust in my ability to do in good faith the best I can, with what I have available. Experience and good judgement help. No...

These are the Sam Harris type questions, whenever he talks about Wellbeing as the basis for secular morality. I generally accept these sorts of argume...

Sure. As half-baked secular humanist, I've advocated wellbeing/flourishing for some years. But there are still issues to iron out - hypothetically :- ...

I'm not a philosopher so forgive me if I ask a stupid question. In brief dot points what are 'known acts with a positive value?' How do you arrive at ...

I agree but I guess Hanover might ask you on what basis ought one to care for these values? The adoption of 'wellbeing' as a criterion of value is ado...

Actually Nietzsche would have told the Nazi's to fuck off. My point isn't what you think it is. It is about lying. Kant says you don't lie to anyone j...

That analogy doesn't work. A better example would be if the Declaration of Independence actually said 'human beings are all created equal, except for ...

I always heard that Kant was known for his fixated rigidity, both in his lifestyle (people set clocks by his daily walk) and by his rigid notion of du...

Surely this is only the case if you already accept a presupposition that there are no transcendent foundations for morality and that moral realism is ...

I'm not a post-modernist or deeply read in Derrida, but I find myself agreeing for the most part. For me it seems that the anti-foundationalist conclu...

Yep - sounds like a recipe for disappointment and blunder.

It has a nice ring to it.

So important: even within the one creed, we only ever encounter the subjective preferences of believers - hence we see Baptist Protestants who may eit...

Which leads us to telling the Nazi's where the Jews are hiding if we know. God forbid we should ever usher in lying.

This seems to be setting up a scenario drenched in unnecessary moral rumination and hand-wringing. Most people live and die and do not require the con...