RE: Attn: Theists - What would it take to prove you wrong?
August 20, 2013 at 10:24 pm
(This post was last modified: August 20, 2013 at 10:31 pm by Chas.)
discipulus Wrote:(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?
No, it's memetic evolution. And convergent evolution is evident in the large agreement of basic moral judgements across diverse cultures.
And these convergent ideas may or may not be objective morality.
Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.
Science is not a subject, but a method.