tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10856048.post548105118322741260..comments2024-03-12T12:23:10.033-04:00Comments on Secular Perspectives: A Theory of Ethical ValueUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10856048.post-62183072321335633922017-01-20T23:37:52.108-05:002017-01-20T23:37:52.108-05:00@Explicit Yes I dismissed the creation of numerou...@Explicit Yes I dismissed the creation of numerous finely graded ethical laws for the same reason that your conception rejects that concept. Your probability calculation must of necessity be based on some general principles that are analogous to the quasi-economics in my conception. It is just not possible to pre-calculate and memorize the thousands of micro-laws which would be required to keep the Kantian perspective from falling into absurdities. One must, as you have done, find some more general way to calculate reasonable answers in the complexities of a given situation. A general conception of ethical value will never be able to give a certain answer to all questions. The point is to understand how we can find reasonable answers to specific well structured questions. Once that is done it becomes possible to refine our conception of ethical value to address more difficult questions. Sam Harris did a noble effort with his book on The Moral Landscape. I likewise applaud his effort to encourage intelligent thinking on this subject.Don Whartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11874733311091724239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10856048.post-65139020365660196182017-01-18T08:59:48.211-05:002017-01-18T08:59:48.211-05:00Kant's ethics principle to 'Act only accor...Kant's ethics principle to 'Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law' is correct. You are also going in the right direction when you said "Kantian perspective might be salvaged by creating numerous finely graded ethical laws". You then dismissed this line of reasoning too quickly on the grounds it is unwieldy. The only way to have ethical generalities is to determine by probabilities that if the general context is X then the probability favors conclusion Y as being the ethical conclusion. But such generalities are not universally applicable because the specific details could still be relevant and change the ethical conclusion. All ethics is context sensitive and thus ignorance poses a risk to ethics. Ethics is rooted in how the universe functions, Sam Harris is correct about that.Explicit Atheisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05501109533475045969noreply@blogger.com