RE: Do you wish there's a god?
April 4, 2019 at 6:38 pm
(This post was last modified: April 4, 2019 at 6:39 pm by Acrobat.)
(April 4, 2019 at 5:59 pm)Thoreauvian Wrote: The real world is complex enough that we should employ doubt and uncertainty to address it effectively. That is a truth better represented in atheistic perspectives than in theistic perspectives. Since truth is relative, it is also continually changing. So you have to be on your toes and pay attention.
I tend to agree uncertainty and doubt are for more representative of atheism than theism. Atheists and unbelievers are more likely to believe nothing, and believers are likely to believe something. In fact some atheists go as far as believing that nothing is true, that it's all just subjective. I tend to believe what's most likely to be the case, while atheists seem more prone to believe in things which they can be close to near absolute certainty about. I tend to lack of belief only when I have no basis to assume one way or the other, like your marital status, i don't lack a belief regarding your gender, I think based on variety of factors that you're male. I could be wrong, but I'm not afraid of being wrong, to the point where i refrain from holding this view.
Quote:I do not believe that lies are more utilitarian than truths, to individuals or societies.
That's a pretty strong faith you got there. That no lie has ever been more useful than the truth, nor will it ever be. Not to mention pretty profound statement about the nature of reality. That a fulfilling existence is dependent on a true recognition of it. It sounds a bit too religious.
Quote:I agree with Gae Bolga that you are equivocating the word "good" as you apply it between moral and aesthetic judgments, so your last question is faulty IMO.
I'm not equivocating, but i think there might be some difference in where we're placing good in our moral perspective. I'm with Kant here, 'beauty is the symbol of morality'. But I'll put it more simply, morality is ultimately derived on the basis of values, and moral values are aesthetic in nature.
The reason I'm faithful to my wife, want to do right by my kids, my family etc... is on the basis of love for them. It's that sort of beauty of love, that motivates my moral behavior, and actions, my perceptions of right and wrong, Its on the beauty of values like human dignity, of brotherhood, community, friendship, empathy, kindness, generosity, mercy, that we seek to serve these things.
Once you extrapolate the true values for whatever moral statement you can throw out, it's not that hard to see the aesthetic aspect of them.