Unseen

Strega wrote:

Somebody commented to me that they thought instead of removing the confederate statues, the US should teach history in schools. (Because that really gets emotions going). I had to reply that the toppling of these statues IS teaching history in a way that schools never did, inasmuch as we are all becoming aware of the historical…

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Simon Paynton wrote:

@unseen – the objectivity and moral realism we think we have, are an illusion. “True” objectivity in a mathematical sense doesn’t exist for morality – or if it does, it’s irrelevant. The way in which it does exist is that the conditions that give rise to human morality are eternal (at least, for the duration of the human f…

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_Robert_ wrote:

Unseen wrote:

Probably the grist for an entire standalone discussion but is slavery actually wrong in an objective way? or do we simply feel revulsion toward it, making our attitude subjective? Is it that we don’t want a society to include slavery? or is it that no one has a right to enslave, which begs the question of where r…

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Simon: “Norms” as generally used in the social “sciences” is subjective and really can’t be anything else. You can describe them in an objective way but that would still be an objective description of something which is a matter of consensus or legislation. And anything which is by consensus or the result of a legislative process cannot be held to…[Read more]

Probably the grist for an entire standalone discussion but is slavery actually wrong in an objective way? or do we simply feel revulsion toward it, making our attitude subjective? Is it that we don’t want a society to include slavery? or is it that no one has a right to enslave, which begs the question of where rights come from and can they be…[Read more]

Here’s an interesting thought problem:

Let’s suppose our nation’s Founding Fathers had been alive at the time of the Civil War, would George Washington have been a Confederate general? Would Thomas Jefferson have given up his slaves and joined the North?

It’s not a comfortable question to ask, but I think our Founding Fathers, by and large,…[Read more]

I have read that the Greeks kept slaves almost as an act of generosity and kindness. It was an alternative to killing the defeated and captured enemy. If you just let them go, you might have to fight them again at some time in the future. When I say “Greeks,” maybe I mean Athenians. Slaves often became almost family members, entrusted with money…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

It has been estimated that the members and ministers of the Orthodox churches in the South owned no less than 660,000 slaves.

What? Here in the United States when you invoke “Orthodox Churches,” you mean Eastern Orthodox or Asian Orthodox churches pretty much, as distinguished from the Roman Catholic Church.

Knowing…[Read more]

Slavery is the country’s original sin.

Amazing how deep rooted biblical nonsense is rooted even amongst atheists. Just yesterday I slipped out a “thank god”

I meant it in a literal, not religious sense, of course.

jakelafort wrote:

Indigenous Americans may feel a little overlooked in that assessment, Unseen.

That, too.

But it makes me ponder the issue of moral relativism. Do we forgive the contemporaries of the age on the basis of being the same as every other asshole?

It’s not like nobody was pointing out the inhumanity of slavery at the time.

Slavery is the country’s original sin. We lionize the Founding Fathers and don’t think about the fact that while they could have gotten behind the plow and worked the land like real farmers, instead they bought and sold kidnap victims so that they could live like the wealthy English industrial barons.

Thomas Jefferson actually sexually abused one…[Read more]