From: Dick.Gray@bull.com
Date: Mon Jan 11 1999 - 09:30:12 MST
"Samael" <Samael@dial.pipex.com> writes:
>From: Dick.Gray@bull.com <Dick.Gray@bull.com>
>>If no objective standard is possible, how are we to come to any
agreement?
>>Fortunately, most of us are able to get along reasonably well with each
>>other most of the time. Why is this, do you suppose?
>Because much of mankind shares similar wants/likes at basic levels (no
>organism likes being attacked, we all understand that being reasonable
>towards people increases the chance that they will be reasonable towards
us,
>we like people to behave in trustworthy ways, etc.).
...and we like these things because of our evolutionary heritage. It's not
a matter of personal whim at all, but an objectively verifiable nexus of
instinctual responses. In humans, of course, these instincts are usually
regularized by the application of reason, resulting in codes of conduct
whose relative wisdom can be ascertained by observing the results with
reference to our biological imperatives, i.e. objectively. Thus, we have
both an objective basis for formulating ethical standards and an objective
means of verifiying the worth (workability) of a given standard.
>>I'd feel distinctly uneasy around anyone who actually believes that not
>>conking me over the head to take my watch is just an arbitrary personal
>>preference.
>I felt the same way for a while. [...] When nothing nasty happens and
>people continue acting in a reasonable way, the feeling goes away.
You're begging the question of _why_ people continue to act in a
"reasonable" way. (Note that you've just vitiated your own argument, since
if it's reasonable, then it's not arbitrary, i.e. not subjective.)
The fact of the evolution of life provides profound insight into why we
consistently, as a species, choose certain values and reject other things
as "evil". As such, I consider it the only firm basis for ethical theory.
Sort of the "missing link" in the natural law tradition.
Respect,
Dick
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