From: Russell Blackford (RussellBlackford@bigpond.com)
Date: Mon Aug 27 2001 - 04:15:15 MDT
Mike said
>I'll have to read that. I suggest reading things like Jared Diamond's
>"Guns, Germs, and Steel", which presents a rather persuasive argument
>for an objective basis for the preeminence of western concepts.
Actually, I have read it. Highly recommended, Mike; I second your view that
it should be widely read.
However, it doesn't present an objective basis for the preeminence of
Western concepts in the sense of arguing in any way that such concepts are
*justified*. It merely offers a speculative economic history of how Western
civilization happened to conquer other civilizations, largely by better
weapons, superior materials, and resistance to smallpox. All of these were
little more than historical accidents - that's Diamond's whole point.
This kind of theory is hardly a basis for moral realism and I'd be
astonished if Diamond himself thought anything of the kind.
Russell
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