Fran it is good to be back. The question I would lke answered about the bankers in your reply is:
Do these people feel guilt and then quash such feelings, or do they not feel guilty at all? I would suspect that the guilt IS felt and then put aside. So perhaps no electromagnet required but an ability to live quite a healthey life with negative feelings? On 6 Apr, 13:01, frantheman <[email protected]> wrote: > Good to have you back, lee! > > I asked the question here as a follow-on to a previous question I > posed a couple of weeks ago, "Does evil exist?", because I'm trying to > sort out and clarify my own thinking on the subject - and I've found > the answers and discussions here very helpful in that regard. > > One of the things I wonder about is the extent to which we can speak > of morality beyond (or deeper than) societal conventions and reward/ > punishment schemata. In many areas, I've noticed a tendency to limit > morality to the "private" context. I saw a series of interviews with > young bankers in Frankfurt last week asked about their attitude to a > number of clever "bears", who apparently saw the financial crisis > coming, sold short, and made major profits as a result. The general > view expressed was admiration for people who were canny enough to read > the signs right and play the system accordingly. None of them even > seemed to consider that such people also had the option to make their > viewpoints known, cry warning and maybe do something about averting > something generally seen as very damaging for many millions of people. > Moral blindness? Or just the result of shutting morality out of all > kinds of areas which pertain to life? Or a viewpoint that those who > allow their actions to be influenced by moral perspectives are just > mugs? > > Many people seem to have no problems with a view of society where it's > dog eat dog and so, buddy, you'd better strengthen your jaws and > sharpen your teeth! Does the way we organise society have an > anaesthesising electro-magnetic effect on the moral compasses you > refer to? > > Francis > > On 6 Apr., 13:12, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Everybody, I'm back from two moths of jury duty and ready to get my > > teeth into further arguing! > > > Hey Fran, > > > Are you asking the wrong question here? Morality? Well we all have > > that to some degree or other don't we, perhaps the question should be > > why are we moral? > > > Theist and Atheist alike, we mostly have the same moral compass, I'll > > put it down to it all being part and parcel of what sort of a creature > > mankind is. God or no God, morality just comes as part of being > > human. > > > On 3 Apr, 10:30, frantheman <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > In Dostoevsty’s novel, “Crime and Punishment”, Raskolnikov commits > > > murder with the justification, “If God doesn’t exist, then anything is > > > permissible.” Dostoevsky, who advocated a slavophile Christianity, > > > uses the novel to argue that rationalist atheism leads to nihilism and > > > chaos and that a belief in a redeeming God is the only solid basis for > > > human life. > > > > The theistic argument for an ultimate basis for morality is, of > > > course, easy; morality is divinely deemed, proscribed, part of the > > > template of existence. It gives answers to the question, “why be > > > moral?” on different levels; because God has ordained it, because it > > > is a God-created part of human nature, because God will punish you if > > > you aren’t and reward you if you are. > > > > Where can atheists find an answer to the question; why be moral? More > > > practically, perhaps, if we accept secular models for organising > > > society (and this is the basis of western societies), where do we find > > > arguments in favour of behaving morally? In the wake of the financial > > > collapse, many commentators have identified a lack of moral > > > sensibility on the part of those managing and playing the markets as > > > one of the underlying problems leading to the collapse. Is the basis > > > of law and regulation merely deterrent; the fear of the consequences > > > of being caught? > > > > Francis- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
