Is it possible to make a moral system without reference to instinct or to superstition, but rooted in rational principles? How might we go about doing that?
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Morality from the ground up
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Are you trying to create one compatible with Islam?
No God, No fear.
Know God, Know fear.  RE: Morality from the ground up
August 1, 2017 at 3:17 am
(This post was last modified: August 1, 2017 at 3:18 am by ignoramus.)
A moral system for who then?
The world's full of diverse morality systems known as laws.
No God, No fear.
Know God, Know fear.  (July 31, 2017 at 10:28 pm)bennyboy Wrote: Is it possible to make a moral system without reference to instinct or to superstition, but rooted in rational principles? How might we go about doing that? Jeremy Bentham made a respectable stab at it with utilitarianism, based on the greatest good for the greatest number, which he expressed as the moral principle, '...it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.' Such a system has inherent problems (how does one define 'happiness', for example), but it certainly seems to qualify as a reason-based moral system. Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
(August 1, 2017 at 4:07 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:(July 31, 2017 at 10:28 pm)bennyboy Wrote: Is it possible to make a moral system without reference to instinct or to superstition, but rooted in rational principles? How might we go about doing that? Yeah, that's Sam Harris' view as well IIRC.
I don't see the problem. Happiness can be defined any number of ways by a great many individuals and nothing prevents us from taking them all into account. We already do, anyway.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
A universal moral system might work at a base level but would become divergent when addressing the complexities in different societies.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.
 (July 31, 2017 at 10:28 pm)bennyboy Wrote: Is it possible to make a moral system without reference to instinct or to superstition, but rooted in rational principles? How might we go about doing that? I think the golden rule pretty much covers it. And before the theists jump in to claim it for themselves, the GR, as per the link, pre dates Christianity by thousands of years. Golden Rule
It's amazing 'science' always seems to 'find' whatever it is funded for, and never the oppsite. Drich.
I think Dillahunty takes a pretty good crack at it with 'well being'.
Nay_Sayer: “Nothing is impossible if you dream big enough, or in this case, nothing is impossible if you use a barrel of KY Jelly and a miniature horse.”
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