(September 28, 2013 at 10:05 pm)whateverist Wrote: Well, if we only have knowledge without the empathic wince, would we even bother with a concept of morality? Wouldn't it just be a subset of logic otherwise? It is the special way in which we care which calls for another category. If you can't account for that, then all you have is a logic that can only persuade if one shares various premises. A pretty vapid conception of morality. Too often the defense of morality seems to resolve into a defense of propriety. Not really my concern.
This argument shows the basic error of your assumptions. Morality does not depend on nor is it the derivative of the "empathic wince". The relevance of empathy to morality is only to the extent you make it relevant. Morality is a standard guiding your actions - period. You can derive such a standard from your empathic instincts, you can derive from godly delusions or you can derive it from a subset of logic. The "special way of caring" is relevant to morality only if you make it relevant. It requires a separate category because of what it does - not where it comes from.
