RE: The Moral Argument for God
December 7, 2015 at 5:03 pm
(This post was last modified: December 7, 2015 at 5:07 pm by Simon Moon.)
(December 4, 2015 at 6:56 pm)wallym Wrote:(December 4, 2015 at 5:56 pm)Simon Moon Wrote: All you have to do is ask the sentient beings on the negative side of an immoral action how they feel about it.
Murder is wrong, because it harms the well being of sentient beings. Would you rather be murdered, or continue living? If you answer like the vast majority of people would, then you have your answer.
All you have to do to determine that slavery is wrong, is ask he slaves how they feel about it. Would you rather be enslaved, or continue to be free?
The basis of your reasoning, if I'm not mistaken, is that because I'm sentient, that makes me objectively obligated (via science, not just something you made up) to care about the preferences of every other sentient being on the planet? That doesn't strike you as incredibly flimsy and super duper scientifically not a thing?
Interesting you went with sentience instead of species. Got to get the moo cows under the umbrella, I guess?
You are correct. I should not have used the word "sentient". "Consciousness" would be better.
Just because it is objectively true, that, the things you need for your well being and ability to thrive are the same for the vast majority of humanity, does not mean you are obliged to care about them. If you do not have feelings of empathy for other humans, you are in the minority.
Do you believe that it is objectively true that the vast majority if humans: prefer life over death, freedom over slavery, health over disease, etc?
The scientific evidence to support this, is the fact that humans are a social species that, for the majority of our existence, required: empathy, cooperation, altruism, reciprocity, in order to survive.
You are not obliged to believe that sulfuric acid is harmful if swallowed, that doesn't change that it is objectively true that it is.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.