on 8/7/02 6:17 am, Robert Seeberger at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "William T Goodall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2002 10:07 PM Subject: Re:
>> Religion and ethics It is a matter of fact that different societies in >> different times and places have decided that different things are good or >> evil, and to different extents. > > This is true only if you ignore the general thrust of morality across the > board and focus on the quibbles and details. IOW you cannot make fair > comparisons if you only look at contrasts. > So Abortion Conscription Death Penalty Decriminalisation of soft drugs Euthanasia Genetic engineering on humans &c. Are just quibbles and details? I don't think so. >> So either good and evil are matters of opinion >> > For the most part they are not. There is a lot of opinion on that list I gave above, and it could be a lot longer list. > >> or most (all) of the people who ever lived were (are) unwittingly evildoers. >> > Uh....Yes! I think this is a given at least to a moderate degree. Just about > everyone has taken a cookie from the cookie jar. > I'm not sure what your point is. If one does something one considers wrong, and one knows it, then one has not unwittingly done wrong. >> >> I find the former view more useful than the latter, since it makes more room >> for discussion. >> > Discussion is in no way a basis for morality. Discussion dont mean beans. > Well, here in the UK it was discussion that led to the end of slavery, the abolition of child labour, the introduction of women's suffrage and so on. Perhaps none of these are moral issues in your view? >> >> And what is the matter with opinions? It is 'just a matter of opinion' that >> Shakespeare is a better writer than Sidney Sheldon (say) - so what? >> > There are 2 kinds of opinions. One is a perception of value that is always > subjective and cannot be held to an objective standard. The other is a > perception of reality that can be proven or disproven. Discussions of good and > evil have the tendency to use both definitions of "opinion" as if they are > interchangeable, but they are not. OK, so that is your opinion. Now prove it... >> It is much better for people to argue about opinions than to blindly accept >> authority. > The sentence is true in and of itself. But morality does not > extend from authority. Morality extends from sentience. In your opinion morality extends from sentience. However in the opinion of many, especially the religious, morality extends from unquestionable authority. -- William T Goodall [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
