RE: Ben Shapiro vs Neil deGrasse Tyson: The WAR Over Transgender Issues
January 27, 2025 at 7:56 pm
(This post was last modified: January 27, 2025 at 8:01 pm by Sheldon.)
(January 27, 2025 at 7:19 pm)The Grand Nudger Wrote: Sheldon. Can you think of any fact claim that you would not call a subjective opinion?Yes, the earth is not flat, is not just a subjective opinion, as it rests on an amount of objectively verifiable evidence, that would make denial of it unreasonable. I tend to think of objectivity as a scale, the more objective the evidence, and the more objective evidence we have the more reliable the conclusions it supports.
I'll make four assertions to moral fact, all of which I disagree with. This is what I'm referring to when I say objectivist opinions, relativist opinions, subjectivist opinions, and non cognitive responses.
1. Homosexual sex is bad because it spreads stds.
2. Homosexual sex is bad because it erodes the traditional family.
3. Homosexual sex is bad because god abhors it.
4. Homosexual sex is bad because it disgusts me.
I have numbered them one to four to help me make my responses clearer:
1. I don't see how this is a moral assertion? All sex can spread disease, that's what the S stands for in the acronym. One can reduce risk of course, avoiding promiscuity using protection like condoms etc..
2. I am dubious this is true, as it seems like a slippery slope fallacy to me.
3. I don't believe any deity or deities exist, so again I find the claim dubious, but if a deity makes it clear to me that it abhors gay people, I would view that as a subjective claim, and an immoral one, but of course my objections would rest on my own subjective opinions ultimately.
4. By this rationale garden peas would be immoral for me. Whilst I accept moral assertions ultimately must rest on subjective opinions, I don't think my disgust of something is a reliable bar for what is moral. If one is disgusted by something then one can avoid it, but one cannot avid who they are, only weigh their actions and the consequences to try and avoid harming others unnecessarily. Though of course the idea that causing harm is wrong or immoral is subjective, it is an opinion I share, as I think the world is generally a more bearable place if we try to avoid causing, and where possible prevent unnecessary harm.