Tom Storm

That goes for most answers here when others chime in. The argument from "the remarkableness of life" isn't always effective and no one else had made t...

I don't understand when people don't understand this. :wink: Who cares? A series of zeros has no impact upon me. I hold a largely positive view about ...

Indeed. As I understand it the emotivist doesn't believe in oughts or ought nots since they are just expressions of your preferences which are emotion...

The emotivism wouldn’t say murder is wrong because of the community’s emotional reaction as if that were a causal explanation. Instead, they’d say cal...

I'm not a philosopher, so here is my obtuse response: Can't it be said that it is emotions and attitudes that ultimately drive our doing? What we do i...

Yes, and it was a revelation to me when I finally saw the film and realised what the Network had left out.

Like you I love Altman's The Long Goodbye. MASH never did it for me but I appreciate its influence.

Suicide is painless It brings on many changes And I can take or leave it if I please Original lyrics to the MASH theme (removed by network TV)

A lot of people have periods where they wish they never existed. And some hold the view that, although they are not particularly unhappy, the burden o...

I guess that’s where we differ. I don’t believe any preference we have or decision we make is independent of our affective state. Reasoning is post ho...

That's an elegant summary.

I agree with this. A pathway to developing moral systems via emotivism would probably involve arguments about cooperation: a code of conduct that prov...

Maybe, but I’m not sure. For me, emotional reactions are likely to be preconcpetual, prelinguistic experiences to which we apply post-hoc rationalizat...

Yes, but my point, perhaps badly worded, is that if the statement 'stealing is wrong' amounts to no more than the emotivist's "boo stealing!" This can...

But stealing may be permissible in certain circumstances or not harmful and even do good. How do you make the journey from such a statement (which see...

When you say "morality is about harm done," it seems to me thsi is expressing an emotional reaction to harm. How does harm become objective? I can see...

Indeed. I don't see how a moral statement can be considered truth-apt. I believe morality is rooted in emotion (though I don't necessarily subscribe t...

Interesting and thoughtful response. Nothing much. For me, we are creatures of prediction and habit. If a particular framing helps us make sense of th...

You raise a good point about language use which I think is one reason why we get confused about faith. We often use the term "faith" with cavalier imp...

I said "poetically" because I believe that using the word "faith" outside of a religious context serves as a literary or evocative expression rather t...

Indeed and often demonstrates that the shoulders of those giants are not resting on good foundations and cannot bear the weight of progress.

For reasons I have explained: that it is not properly comparable. I understand that you disagree, many do, particularly those from Christian backgroun...

Why do you think that is? Obviously one strand here is that faith has been marketed by certain religious institutions as a convenient way to decide th...

People, are forever trying to fit faith into secular choices so I am bound to disagree. It's an equivocation. But I certainly understand your point. T...

Certainly some people believe this. As long as they play nice with others, it doesn't matter to me. I doubt it. Is this important?

Thank you. The notion of choice is interesting here. I tend to think that mostly we can't help the beliefs we are drawn to, much like sexual attractio...

Nicely done. Can you provide an example?

:up: Thanks.

Fair enough. I think it was innovative at the time. I always found the show annoying and unpleasant.

I suppose that hasn’t been my experience. In my work, I encounter criminals, former prisoners, and men from gangs, yet I see no evidence that their be...

I think certain types of Protestant, especially with their barnstorming tent extravaganzas of the early 1900's, have often put on a big show. Elmer Ga...

Arcane Sandwich was banned.

Can you tell me two useful things Nietzsche has contributed to your thinking and life? In simple dot points. :wink:

Isn't this a performative contradiction? How can you be certain of something while claiming you can't be certain of it? If we cannot be certain we exi...

I tend to agree with this, but I would probably not agree with Harris that morality is or can be scientific.

Did I answer it in the post above you. Sorry, a belated response.

Coming back to this point, i guess science operates this way: we don't really have precise definitions of concepts like "life" or "consciousness," but...

I guess we aren't going to make any progress here. Thanks.

Yoru questions seem pretty easy to answer. History and culture. Once a system of values is established it sticks. It becomes culture. Look at all the ...

So what? Christianity is not a map, it is based on spreading the message to all nations. The goal is for the entire world to become Christian. Hence m...

Ok, but I wasn't responding to Harris or the OP, I was responding to you when you said - Did I misread your comment? Sorry if I got distracted.

But what does this give you? Step out the logic further? What are the implications of this fact? I don't believe that there is such a thing as a Bibli...

I'm not an expert on Harris' model but I would have thought his project was broadly consequentialist. My point was that atheists often advocate for mo...

But aren't most facts tied to a value system and a narrative rather than being bias free? For instance, for those who think the Bible is myth, it does...

I find it hard to care much about this. Politics simply uses religious, historical or scientific rationale as justifications for taking action. Whethe...

Step this out in dot points by way of an example. I am assuming you mean Israel?

Seems to be a fact. In this case a biological, psychological, sociological fact. Why does it matter what countries are mentioned in the Bible? In Matt...

I don't understand your point. Is is about refuting one of Nietzsche's points or something to do with the meaning of Christianity for other lands. Or ...

I don’t think Harris' position is necessarily wrong or contradictory. Even if the universe is meaningless (which can be interpreted in various ways - ...

Which is why I raised the concept of scale. Confirmation bias is one thing, but this - Could be interpreted as having more of a magical impact upon a ...