John Stewart is one sharp guy, again. Ian
On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 3:38 PM, Ian Glendinning <[email protected]> wrote: > It turns up in the UK as the Oct 5th highlights package on C4OD. > http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/4od#3126165 > Ian > > On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Ian Glendinning > <[email protected]> wrote: >> Thanks Marsha, >> >> Unforts I was in US earlier in the week (in Philly), but being back in >> the UK now, I can't see the TV feed for the Daily Show. (Need to track >> down the UK channel 4 highlights I guess.) >> >> Ian >> >> On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 3:27 PM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Steve, Ian, >>> >>> Rumor has it that Sam Harris was on the Oct 4th Daily Show, >>> which can be watched on the computer at: >>> >>> http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/mon-october-4-2010-sam-harris >>> >>> The interview is too disruptive to more than a hint of the books contents, >>> but >>> it's interesting. >>> >>> >>> Marsha >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Oct 7, 2010, at 8:38 AM, Steven Peterson wrote: >>> >>>> Hi All, >>>> >>>> I suppose anyone interested in the national conversation about morals >>>> such as all MOQers will want to read Harris's book which has just been >>>> released. >>>> >>>> http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Landscape-Science-Determine-Values/dp/1439171211/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286454755&sr=8-1 >>>> >>>> I look forward to discussing it with you. >>>> >>>> Best, >>>> Steve >>>> >>>> >>>> Harris: >>>> "The people of Albania have a venerable tradition of vendetta called >>>> “Kanun”: If a man commits a murder, his victim’s family can kill any >>>> one of his male relatives in reprisal. If a boy has the misfortune of >>>> being the son or brother of a murderer, he must spend his days and >>>> nights in hiding, forgoing a proper education, adequate health care, >>>> and the pleasures of a normal life. Untold numbers of Albanian men and >>>> boys live as prisoners of their homes even now. Can we say that the >>>> Albanians are morally wrong to have structured their society in this >>>> way? Is their tradition of blood feud a form of evil? Are their values >>>> inferior to our own? >>>> >>>> Most people imagine that science cannot pose, much less answer, >>>> questions of this sort. How could we ever say, as a matter of >>>> scientific fact, that one way of life is better, or more moral, than >>>> another? Whose definition of “better” or “moral” would we use? >>>> Scientists generally believe that answers to questions of human value >>>> will fall perpetually beyond our reach—not because human subjectivity >>>> is too difficult to study, or the brain too complex, but because there >>>> is no intellectual justification for speaking about right and wrong, >>>> or good and evil, in universal terms. While many scientists now study >>>> the evolution of morality, as well as its underlying neurobiology, the >>>> purpose of their research is merely to describe how human beings think >>>> and behave. No one expects science to tell us how we should think and >>>> behave. Controversies about human values are controversies about which >>>> science officially has no opinion. >>>> >>>> This has made science appear divorced, in principle, from the most >>>> important questions of human life. While most educated people will >>>> concede that the scientific method has delivered centuries of fresh >>>> embarrassment to religion on matters of fact, it is now an article of >>>> almost unquestioned certainty, both inside and outside scientific >>>> circles, that science has nothing to say about what constitutes a good >>>> life. Religious thinkers in all faiths, and on both ends of the >>>> political spectrum, are united on precisely this point: The defense >>>> one most often hears for belief in God is not that there is compelling >>>> evidence for His existence, but that faith in Him is the only reliable >>>> source of meaning and moral guidance. Mutually incompatible religious >>>> traditions now take refuge behind the same non sequitur. >>>> >>>> As I argue in my new book, The Moral Landscape, questions about >>>> values—about meaning, morality, and life’s larger purpose—are really >>>> questions about the well-being of conscious creatures. Throughout the >>>> book I make reference to a hypothetical space that I call “the moral >>>> landscape”—a space of real and potential outcomes whose peaks >>>> correspond to the heights of potential well-being and whose valleys >>>> represent the deepest possible suffering. Different ways of thinking >>>> and behaving—different cultural practices, ethical codes, modes of >>>> government, etc.—will translate into movements across this landscape >>>> and, therefore, into different degrees of human flourishing. I’m not >>>> suggesting that we will necessarily discover one right answer to every >>>> moral question, or a single best way for human beings to live. Some >>>> questions may admit of many answers, each more or less equivalent. >>>> However, the existence of multiple peaks on the moral landscape does >>>> not make them any less real or worthy of discovery. Nor would it make >>>> the difference between being on a peak and being stuck deep in a >>>> valley any less clear or consequential..." >>>> ... >>>> read on at >>>> http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-02/sam-harris-on-the-moral-landscape/?cid=hp:mainpromo7 >>>> Moq_Discuss mailing list >>>> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >>>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >>>> Archives: >>>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >>>> http://moq.org/md/archives.html >>> >>> >>> >>> ___ >>> >>> >>> Moq_Discuss mailing list >>> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >>> Archives: >>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >>> http://moq.org/md/archives.html >>> >> > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
