Moral Nihilism

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

The atheist makes no claims of truth. He makes a simple assertion,nor more. viz: "I do not believe" There in no burden of proof on the atheist.The burden is solely with the believer who asserts his beliefs to be true.The statement "'assuming atheism to be true" is without meaning; such an assumption may not be made.

why do atheists such as Russell feel any need to complain about the alleged immorality of theists?

I have no idea, you'd need to ask them. I'm not really interested why,I'm interested in the "what"; What are the criticisms and are valid? Attempting to defend Christian immorality by judging the behaviour of atheists is Tu quoque ,yet another logical fallacy. (look it up) Also contained is the irrational implication that religion tends to make people moral,and the lack of religion makes people moral.

If morality is merely conventional or preferential, why don’t atheists make such a claim?

I'm sure some atheists do. But I repeat,there no such thing as "an atheist position" .

Why bother living within such constraints? When you die you’ll cease to exist and the universe could care less how you lived your life. Live a moral life, live an immoral life, both are absurd and meaningless notions. Why the pretense that you live a moral life?

I think you are conflating (1) "moral" with "altruistic",(2) persisting with the notion that the word "atheist" has connotations other than a lack of belief (3) making an argument from personal incredulity:IE "It makes no sense to me,therefore it's wrong.

I mentioned my positions is based on egoism,a term with which you seem not to be familiar..In essence the argument is I'm moral because it's my best interest to be me moral and that human beings DO as a species ,generally act from self interest. Many atheists thinkers and philosophers use the common good as the basis of morality. One school is called "utilitarianism'.

Also worth looking at hedonism,stoicism epicureanism.


It's also likely that some forms of morality are hardwired as a survival advantage.Moral behaviour has been observed in recent years in other primates.

There's an excellent lecture about morality available on line (given Jonathon Haidt). Along the lines of psychological /rational egoism. I think he makes a pretty good case for atheist morality.Worth a look;


http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonat..._mind.html


From wiki :Ethical Egoism

Ethical egoism (also called simply egoism[1]) is the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to do what is in their own self-interest. It differs from psychological egoism, which claims that people do only act in their self-interest. Ethical egoism also differs from rational egoism, which holds merely that it is rational to act in one's self-interest). These doctrines may, though, be combined with ethical egoism.

from Wiki utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all people. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome: put simply, the ends justify the means. Utility, the good to be maximized, has been defined by various thinkers as happiness or pleasure (versus suffering or pain), although preference utilitarians like Peter Singer define it as the satisfaction of preferences. It may be described as a life stance, with happiness or pleasure being of ultimate importance.

That you are unable to see the point and insist that there must actually be a point is a personal belief to which you are entitled .My belief that there IS no point seems to freak out some theists, which concerns me not a jot or a tittle.

I left my last post as I had to go out.I was able to spend some time thinking about this.I guess I could continue,but I'm not willing to put anymore time into this discussion with you. My position is that metaphysical arguments are unprovable.It's an academic excercise for me,not about being right or wrong.

That's all I have to say to you on this matter,(I'll post a link to the video if I can find it)