Edward

Simon, you’re thinking of mathematics as if it’s a thing. It’s not a thing that needs to be understood, it’s our toolset for understanding things.

Think of maths as a grid through which we view our universe. Does B17 (imaginary grid reference) actually exist?  Well yes because we can point at it. But we can only point at it because we put it t…[Read more]

Thanks, Reg!!!

It is certainly morally ambiguous to say the least, to impose such a life on a child (living their lives on a spaceship with the goal of breeding more children to do the same) without much of a chance to opt out and turn back. I would say the stakes would have to be pretty high to allow that (extreme over population or end of world situation). In…[Read more]

ever-greater fitness and adaptation

That is a misconception. As everything else is also adapting, creatures must adapt as well. It is not “ever greater” but adapting to the circumstances of the moment. Organisms may emerge with greater complexity in some cases but not always and that is not the same as greater fitness and adaption. Greater…[Read more]

Moral principles are ideal forms or concepts.

Sigh

I don’t take Plato’s forms seriously, so no…they are not facts as far as I am concerned and I see them of little (if any) philosophical use besides understanding the history of Western thought. However, for Plato…the forms were real, if not the ONLY real thing where even we humans were just imitations of forms. They were NOT some vague shadowy…[Read more]

Plato’s forms aren’t facts and don’t exist.

Sounds like someone skimmed the wikipedia article.

In the UK there are some cases of ex-Isis brides who want to be repatriated from Kurdish camps back to the UK.  The UK government doesn’t want to know.  It’s not helping them, but is not harming them either.

Not being stripped of citizenship is a basic human right in most countries. The UK government conveniently ignores such a right to gain the a…[Read more]

If an ethical absolute is respecting people’s dignity and human rights, it would be hard to do in some circumstances, such as if you come across a child murderer.

I read this three times and cannot make sense out of it. I don’t believe you have a grasp of what ethical absolutes are.

People are willing to risk injury, or cost, to themselves, to u…

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The only over arching ethical rule I think exists is simply to survive at any cost

That isn’t an ethical rule. That is an evolutionary instinct. And clearly not strong enough considering how many people commit suicide and how many people do things they know will lead to an early death (smoking, drinking) and engage in reckless and violent…[Read more]

Simon, something can not be of use to you if you put little to no effort into really understanding them. Why should people take your own moral/ethical concepts seriously when you won’t put an effort into getting at least a basic grasp on the standard language and concepts?

Secondly, you are using terms in your own way  which is extremely…[Read more]

Simon, I think you need to acquaint yourself a little more thoroughly with the more well discussed moral systems. You keep saying things that are strange explanations of terms used in moral systems:

• A duty is ideal performance that we owe to others and ourselves
• There are no absolute moral principles, although there are absolute, abstract…

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Unseen, I was clearly referring to absolute moral systems with a pronounced unquestionable set of received rules like the bible or what a dictator says. I do not know if you are referring to duty re: virtue ethics, deontological ethics or some other system. If it is one of the earlier two, they are NOT absolute moral systems and are not…[Read more]

Original sin is a grotesque concept, just as “family dishonour”, guilt by association/family, tribal retribution etc are toxic ideas outside of a primitive setting (and is arguably even toxic within one).

That isn’t to say humans are not flawed. We are gargantuously flawed. We need things we have an extremely difficult time offering one another,…[Read more]

Re: Absolutes:

You should distinguish between the absolute re: the full integrity of a moral system vs absolute rules within a moral system. That is: a moral system is a fairly weak and ineffective one if it isn’t based on an all encompassing set of ideas which covers everything based on a finite set of rules/laws/concepts. For example…[Read more]