(August 20, 2013 at 6:17 pm)Chas Wrote:(August 19, 2013 at 8:35 pm)discipulus Wrote: No. It is not my intention to sway or convert or convince or prove anything to anyone.
I am simply stating very plainly that if each individual determines what is meaningful and what is good, and each individual dies and is no more, then certain conclusions are inevitable as a result of these facts.
However, you entirely miss the actual source of morality and ethics. You have created a false dichotomy between getting absolute morality from outside versus creating for oneself. I reject your dichotomy.
Morals are only meaningful in the interaction of people. They are, in fact, socially constructed - they are the result of negotiation and agreement among people. So no, we don't have six billion people able to create their own morals, we have a considerably smaller number of societies doing so.
And these are the result of an evolution of ideas. Ideas are brought forth and tested by trying them; some survive, some don't.
Is this not cultural relativism?
