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Search found 184 matches

by Wilson
August 7th, 2011, 8:17 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

Let me jump back into this thread that will not die. We all know that we have the ability to make decisions. You can look right, or you can look left. The fact that which one you decide to do is more or less predetermined is a trivial point - a bit of philosophical and scientific exercise that has a...
by Wilson
July 27th, 2011, 7:36 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Empathy
Replies: 45
Views: 15434

Re: Empathy

True, but it wasn't that long ago that public executions could draw huge and enthusiastic crowds. We haven't changed genetically in the meantime, so what explains that? Good question. I think we in the West have advanced somewhat in that we're more sophisticated about how we view other people. Empa...
by Wilson
July 27th, 2011, 6:25 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Empathy
Replies: 45
Views: 15434

Re: Empathy

In this video there wasn't an emphasis on fear of mortality being the basis of empathy, but I'm pretty sure that I saw an earlier version around a year ago where that was a major theme. Maybe somebody pointed out to him that it didn't make sense and he downplayed it in a later version. Or maybe I'm ...
by Wilson
July 26th, 2011, 8:26 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

Let me ask you all: If you were in the orginal scenario, where a bomb drops in the middle of your group, what would you do - assuming that you have a few moments to think about it? Fall on it yourself? Push that chubby fellow next to you onto it? Or let everyone die? I'd probably be frozen with inde...
by Wilson
July 26th, 2011, 6:52 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

True, Wilson. And I personally would use torture in such a situation. And I would be willing to take whatever consequences followed thereafter. Good to hear. And I agree that we need rules. That's what laws are. It's just that rules can't envision every single exceptional circumstance, and sometime...
by Wilson
July 25th, 2011, 6:06 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

Take it a step further. Say that there were two identical public squares, with two identical sets of civilians. Identical bombs were tossed in the identical middle. In the first Abel throws Baker onto the bomb, and everybody but Baker survives. In the second, Xavier does nothing, even though fat Yol...
by Wilson
July 25th, 2011, 6:29 am
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

Neither hero nor villain. If he had sacrificed himself, he would be a hero, but deceased. Throwing someone else on the bomb was acting in his own self-interest. Credit for quick thinking and acting to save lives, and a positive utilitarian move, but no one could look at him afterward without knowing...
by Wilson
July 24th, 2011, 7:56 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

I think thundril, like many people, is a "rules" man. Instead of a morality of empathy or utilitarianism, he wants a fixed set of rules as a guide. And obviously rules are easier to follow than having to calculate the pluses and minuses of each situation. For instance, never torture, no matter the c...
by Wilson
July 23rd, 2011, 11:27 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Empathy
Replies: 45
Views: 15434

Re: Empathy

I agree with most of that video. I saw a previous version from Rifkin(?) with the same wonderful graphics but what I considered a flaw in that he felt that the empathic drive was based on fear of death - which I disagree with, and which he glossed over this time. One small quibble is that the mirror...
by Wilson
July 22nd, 2011, 9:50 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Making Poverty History
Replies: 159
Views: 26508

Re: Making Poverty History

The substance of my argument is that, contrary to the rosy view of the 'invisible hand' faithful, there are things wrong with the way capitalism operates. I am arguing that we need to examine these faults honestly, because only when we have an agreement on this point, can we sensibly move on to dis...
by Wilson
July 22nd, 2011, 7:48 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Making Poverty History
Replies: 159
Views: 26508

Re: Making Poverty History

With respect, thundril, there's not much substance there. If you're simply saying that we should continue with capitalism, but work to correct its shortcomings, I agree with you.
by Wilson
July 22nd, 2011, 5:48 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Making Poverty History
Replies: 159
Views: 26508

Re: Making Poverty History

Why bring up central planning? I never mentioned it. Well, come on, boys, tell us what system you advocate. It's pointless to criticize free market capitalism without offering an alternative. When you, Alan, or Thundril, accuse Alex of straw man arguments, it's frustrating, because you're never des...
by Wilson
July 22nd, 2011, 2:29 am
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Making Poverty History
Replies: 159
Views: 26508

Re: Making Poverty History

What you're overlooking, Thundril, in your analysis, is that the great technological inventions that have made life better for most of the world have come under capitalism. Free markets drive innovation as well as efficiency. The "invisible hand" that you disparage is not so much theory as observati...
by Wilson
July 21st, 2011, 12:11 am
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

I'm just not a rule guy.

How do you stand on the torture question I asked? I assume that torture would be against your personal morality, and it certainly would not be what the terrorist wanted - but not getting the information might cost 100,000 lives - which would certainly be anti-utilitarian.
by Wilson
July 20th, 2011, 9:10 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

I shall treat people how they want to be treated, provided they don't make any demands that would lesser my wellbeing or contradict my own personal morality . Alex, my friend, you're really scrambling. That's my problem with trying to legislate morality by hard and fast rules. No matter how well cr...
by Wilson
July 20th, 2011, 6:25 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

With trolleyism, we can separate it into "would" and "should". WOULD you push the fat man is different from SHOULD you push the fat man - and how should society judge he who pushes and he who decides against pushing? Is there blame attached to pushing the fat man to save six? Is there blame attached...
by Wilson
July 20th, 2011, 6:17 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

For instance, I might think it justified to push the Fat Man off a railway bridge in order to save six other people, but would I jump if I were the Fat Man? It's tricky. If we don't believe in moral absolutes, then on what basis do we debate whether something is justified, or moral, or better? I th...
by Wilson
July 18th, 2011, 7:07 pm
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

I agree with most of your opinions, Wilson, but I don't see the point of punishment for its own sake - I am surprised if you do, given most of what you say. Alex and I disagree over free will and much else, but we are both utilitarians - are you? Insofar as utilitarianism is "the greatest good for ...
by Wilson
July 18th, 2011, 8:10 am
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

I believe that everything we decide to do is programmed by the physical structure of our brains and by external conditions, including the environment. And if we had a powerful enought computer and perfect data as to the physical structure of the universe, then we could - disregarding quantum uncerta...
by Wilson
July 17th, 2011, 12:59 am
Forum: Humanist Ethics & Morality
Topic: Free will
Replies: 683
Views: 81600

Re: Free will

Let's say that there's a beautiful woman I'd like to seduce me. Is it her duty, as a good citizen guided by your golden rule, to do so?