(January 26, 2015 at 5:07 pm)Dystopia Wrote: Then how do we answer the theist argument - If there are no objective or absolute moral standards then every individual's moral spectrum is equally valid, and therefore practices, actions and habits like murder, sex assault, violence, mutilation, torture...[the list goes on] should be perfectly acceptable and not censored in human societies.
[I'm sorry if the answer is obvious but I don't know how to refute this one]
I've said it many times before.
"Subjective" does not mean "all opinions are equal".
Some subjective evaluations are based on evidence, including objective data, are supported by logical arguments and internally consistent. Other subjective evaluations are based only on the bare assertions of the people making them. Therefore, some subjective evaluations are stronger than others.
If this were not so, every court case would end with a hung jury because, gee whiz, the prosecution says "guilty" and the defense says "not guilty" and who can say who's opinion is right or wrong?
Morality is "subjective" because we can't plug numbers into a spreadsheet and determine what is right or wrong. The fact that we say "moral judgment" and "moral values" tacitly admits morality is a subjective evaluation, since "objective" by definition means "free from personal judgment, values or opinions".
How would "objective" morality even work? Can morality be measured by units of measure like temperature, velocity or mass? No. We debate what is "right" or "wrong" by philosophical arguments, not scientific study.
All this ignores that the whole argument is a fallacious "appeal to consequence". If you believe that without a god, there is no morality, that would not make God real. Just because you don't want something to be true doesn't mean that it isn't. The universe doesn't care what you want to be true.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
