Off to a somewhat poor start to the day. Oh well.
Breakfast: Ham-and-cheese filled croissant, mixed fruit cup (Paradise Bakery)
Lunch: Sausage and peppers with penne pasta (F&E)
Snack: Everything bagel, plain
Monday, August 30, 2010
Objective morality versus subjective morality
One of the common topics that comes up in discussion on Yahoo! Answers is the concept of morality - roughly, right and wrong. This morality generally comes in two flavors: Objective and Subjective.
Objective morality is the moral judgment of an action by an external, impartial third party. In other words, objective morality requires someone completely outside and unaffected by a situation to render judgment of the situation.
Subjective morality is the moral judgment of an action by a party who may not be external or impartial. This would include judgment of actions by an individual, based on their personal beliefs, and societal mores and laws.
As an atheist, I must assume that all morality is subjective. In roughly 4.55 billion years, no religious group has been able to present any credible evidence for the existence of any omnipotent, omniscient deity, and so the concept of an objective morality is simply hypothetical; any human will find that their judgment of the situation is subject to their own personal beliefs, and that they are not wholly impartial to the situation.
Since morality is subjective - influenced by a number of factors, including region of birth, religious beliefs, environmental factors such as upbringing and social circles - then morality cannot be universal.
Or can it?
My personal moral code includes a simple tenet that exists in a number of major philosophies or religions. Witch's law simply states, "Do no harm." Confucianism expressed the concept of 'shu', or reciprocity: "Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." Christianity later reversed this rule and included it in the Bible, as the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have done unto you."
None of these completely express my personal, core moral belief, however; they are too simplified, and assume that all people live by the same morality (and they don't). To state it simply:
The only immoral act is that which unjustly imposes upon the rights of another person (sentient being) to take the action of their choosing.
Oliver Wendell Holmes stated this more poetically: "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins."
What exactly does all that mean? At first glance, it may sound like that I'm simply saying, "'Do as thou wilt' shall be the whole of the law," but that is not completely true. Note that I clarify that an action may not unjustly impose on the rights of the second person. In other words, as long as the action you want to take does not impede me in taking the actions of my choosing (and, vice versa, my actions don't impede yours), then the actions are moral.
There can be some gray areas to this, of course. For example, a child may want to stay up very late on a school night, while the parent may force the child to go to bed. While the parent has imposed upon the child's right to act, it is not unjust for a number of reasons, the first and foremost being that education is incredibly important to the child's well-being (even though the child may not see it at the time).
As another example: Someone breaks into my house and attempts to kill me to take my belongings. In that instance, I consider it moral to defend myself with force, up to and including killing my attacker. His desired action (killing me) would obviously impose upon my right to take my desired actions (duh!), and so in that instance reacting in kind is not immoral, because it is done in defense of my ultimate right to moral action.
I acknowledge that this moral code, in fact, includes its own quandary, as in many cases it requires its practitioner to judge the morality of the action of others - but as I said above, I consider all morality to be subjective, and so this is an inevitability I accept.
Overall, though, I consider it a very rational code to follow - and numerous religions and other schools of philosophy seem to agree, at least in part. As I mentioned in a prior blog, this concept was stated by Aristotle as a key basis of law - reason, free from passion. When determining whether an action is moral or immoral, one must simply take a look at the action and judge whether the consequences unjustly impose on the rights of other people - and "unjustly", in this case, means that there must be some sort of direct harm caused to those others by the act.
Followed universally, I think that this concept would lead to an ultimately perfect society. However, I'm not optimistic (or deluded) enough to believe that, as a species, we're anywhere near ready to achieve this sort of clear thought.
Objective morality is the moral judgment of an action by an external, impartial third party. In other words, objective morality requires someone completely outside and unaffected by a situation to render judgment of the situation.
Subjective morality is the moral judgment of an action by a party who may not be external or impartial. This would include judgment of actions by an individual, based on their personal beliefs, and societal mores and laws.
As an atheist, I must assume that all morality is subjective. In roughly 4.55 billion years, no religious group has been able to present any credible evidence for the existence of any omnipotent, omniscient deity, and so the concept of an objective morality is simply hypothetical; any human will find that their judgment of the situation is subject to their own personal beliefs, and that they are not wholly impartial to the situation.
Since morality is subjective - influenced by a number of factors, including region of birth, religious beliefs, environmental factors such as upbringing and social circles - then morality cannot be universal.
Or can it?
My personal moral code includes a simple tenet that exists in a number of major philosophies or religions. Witch's law simply states, "Do no harm." Confucianism expressed the concept of 'shu', or reciprocity: "Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." Christianity later reversed this rule and included it in the Bible, as the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have done unto you."
None of these completely express my personal, core moral belief, however; they are too simplified, and assume that all people live by the same morality (and they don't). To state it simply:
The only immoral act is that which unjustly imposes upon the rights of another person (sentient being) to take the action of their choosing.
Oliver Wendell Holmes stated this more poetically: "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins."
What exactly does all that mean? At first glance, it may sound like that I'm simply saying, "'Do as thou wilt' shall be the whole of the law," but that is not completely true. Note that I clarify that an action may not unjustly impose on the rights of the second person. In other words, as long as the action you want to take does not impede me in taking the actions of my choosing (and, vice versa, my actions don't impede yours), then the actions are moral.
There can be some gray areas to this, of course. For example, a child may want to stay up very late on a school night, while the parent may force the child to go to bed. While the parent has imposed upon the child's right to act, it is not unjust for a number of reasons, the first and foremost being that education is incredibly important to the child's well-being (even though the child may not see it at the time).
As another example: Someone breaks into my house and attempts to kill me to take my belongings. In that instance, I consider it moral to defend myself with force, up to and including killing my attacker. His desired action (killing me) would obviously impose upon my right to take my desired actions (duh!), and so in that instance reacting in kind is not immoral, because it is done in defense of my ultimate right to moral action.
I acknowledge that this moral code, in fact, includes its own quandary, as in many cases it requires its practitioner to judge the morality of the action of others - but as I said above, I consider all morality to be subjective, and so this is an inevitability I accept.
Overall, though, I consider it a very rational code to follow - and numerous religions and other schools of philosophy seem to agree, at least in part. As I mentioned in a prior blog, this concept was stated by Aristotle as a key basis of law - reason, free from passion. When determining whether an action is moral or immoral, one must simply take a look at the action and judge whether the consequences unjustly impose on the rights of other people - and "unjustly", in this case, means that there must be some sort of direct harm caused to those others by the act.
Followed universally, I think that this concept would lead to an ultimately perfect society. However, I'm not optimistic (or deluded) enough to believe that, as a species, we're anywhere near ready to achieve this sort of clear thought.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Food diary - Fri Aug 27 2010
As my doctor just told me that I have very high cholesterol, I'm going to attempt to keep a food diary here through the week (at least for breakfast and lunch).
Breakfast: Turkey sausage and egg white flatbread (Dunk'n Donuts) with a 16-ounce milk
Lunch: Chicken with yogurt sauce and couscous (Fresh and Easy), 1 piece garlic naan with hummus
Snack: Pineapple chunks, peach yogurt
Breakfast: Turkey sausage and egg white flatbread (Dunk'n Donuts) with a 16-ounce milk
Lunch: Chicken with yogurt sauce and couscous (Fresh and Easy), 1 piece garlic naan with hummus
Snack: Pineapple chunks, peach yogurt
Friday, August 20, 2010
Friday Fallacies
Rather than post up my thoughts for the day, on Fridays I think I'm going to hit on and describe a common logical fallacy.
Keeping on the topic of my prior posts, today's fallacy is the argumentum ad ignoratiam - more commonly known as argument from ignorance, also known as the god of the gaps.
The best example of this fallacy appears in the common term for it - god. The concept of god itself is, in fact, an argument from ignorance. When you do not have an answer to a question, and admit that you do not have an answer, and then make up an answer and assert it must be true because you do not have an answer - that is an argumentum ad ignoratiam.
Speaker 1: How did the universe begin?
Speaker 2: Well, since the universe is so complex, and we don't understand how it was created, obviously God was the only one who could create it.
You see how it works? It's literally making up an answer out of ignorance, and asserting that it must be true because of the complexity of the problem.
If we wanted to be technical, all scientific hypotheses began as an argumentum ad ignoratiam - but they quickly move beyond that stage when you offer valid evidence to support the concept.
The difference between science and 'god' is that the evidence presented for science has some sort of solid reasoning behind it, while god simply avoids reasoning by placing itself outside the laws of the universe.
Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either.
Keeping on the topic of my prior posts, today's fallacy is the argumentum ad ignoratiam - more commonly known as argument from ignorance, also known as the god of the gaps.
The best example of this fallacy appears in the common term for it - god. The concept of god itself is, in fact, an argument from ignorance. When you do not have an answer to a question, and admit that you do not have an answer, and then make up an answer and assert it must be true because you do not have an answer - that is an argumentum ad ignoratiam.
Speaker 1: How did the universe begin?
Speaker 2: Well, since the universe is so complex, and we don't understand how it was created, obviously God was the only one who could create it.
You see how it works? It's literally making up an answer out of ignorance, and asserting that it must be true because of the complexity of the problem.
If we wanted to be technical, all scientific hypotheses began as an argumentum ad ignoratiam - but they quickly move beyond that stage when you offer valid evidence to support the concept.
The difference between science and 'god' is that the evidence presented for science has some sort of solid reasoning behind it, while god simply avoids reasoning by placing itself outside the laws of the universe.
Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either.
I don't have to be a dog to post on a dog forum
While I don't intend this to become a blog solely for my thoughts on religion (Steve Wells' blog, Dwindling in Unbelief, does a much better job than I ever could) the debate of it does take up the free time of my day. A few people have asked (some politely, some snidely) why I'm so interested in religion, when I'm an atheist myself.
I could be sarcastic and state that I might post on a forum dedicated to dogs, but that doesn't mean I have to be a canine myself in order to do so. But I'll elaborate a bit.
I'm a strong proponent of internalized beliefs. By 'internalized' I don't necessarily mean internal to one's self, but at the least internal to one's community. I have no problems with the beliefs held by Christians, Muslims, Scientologists, or any other spiritual group. I also have no problem when those beliefs are externalized for the purposes of debate and discussion (obviously, since I sincerely enjoy debating with theists on the topic of 'god'), as long as the believers understand that by bringing their beliefs into the open, I have the right to question them. Most of the time, I don't even mind when a theist "witnesses" at me, because in the end, it does me no real harm.
Where the problem arises is when those beliefs are externalized in such a way as to impact my beliefs (or lack thereof).
For example: I happen to be a gay man. Thus, the topic of same-sex marriage is an important one to me. As you may know, recently the initial federal trial completed regarding the constitutionality of Prop 8 in California. The judge for the trial, Vaughn Walker, ruled that Prop 8 (which amended the California Constitution to disallow same-sex marriage) was a violation of the United States Constitution and a civil rights violation.
His primary reason for the ruling? The defendants (supporters of Prop 8) failed to produce any comprehensive evidence that same-sex marriage in any way harmed the institution of marriage or existing heterosexual marriages; they also failed to show that there was any truth to much of the information upon which the campaign was based (such as the idea that children raised by same-sex couples were at some sort of social disadvantage).
When it came down to it, the only reasons the defendants could provide were based in their personal morals, which were based in non-universal religious views.
Those beliefs left the personal space of their owners(personal as in their community), and impacted the millions of homosexuals living in California (and, indirectly, homosexuals across the country). At that point, the beliefs of the Prop 8 supporters imposed on the beliefs and freedoms of others - those gay men and women who wish to marry. The defendants failed to show that a homosexual, in exercising his or her right to marriage, somehow imposed on the beliefs of the backers of Prop 8, or on their rights to marriage. The externalization of their beliefs caused an unfair limitation on the internal practice of the beliefs of another group.
Since the law (as defined by Aristotle) is meant to be "reason, free from passion", beliefs are not a solid grounding for any regulation. Law should be based on impartial justice, because there is no such animal as a universal, objective morality upon which to base it. That does not mean that law cannot match up with certain morality in some areas - only that, if those areas are religious in nature, they cannot constitute the sole basis for those laws.
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." This must be kept true, and steadfastly enforced, in order to protect the individual's right to swing his fist. That means that when your fist meets the law, the law must prevail and your fist must withdraw.
And that is why I debate religion so fervently - not because I hate any god (it would be moronic to claim to hate a being I don't even think exists), or any religion, or the freedom of religion, but because to passively accept law based on religion would quickly lead to the crumbling of religious freedom itself.
I could be sarcastic and state that I might post on a forum dedicated to dogs, but that doesn't mean I have to be a canine myself in order to do so. But I'll elaborate a bit.
I'm a strong proponent of internalized beliefs. By 'internalized' I don't necessarily mean internal to one's self, but at the least internal to one's community. I have no problems with the beliefs held by Christians, Muslims, Scientologists, or any other spiritual group. I also have no problem when those beliefs are externalized for the purposes of debate and discussion (obviously, since I sincerely enjoy debating with theists on the topic of 'god'), as long as the believers understand that by bringing their beliefs into the open, I have the right to question them. Most of the time, I don't even mind when a theist "witnesses" at me, because in the end, it does me no real harm.
Where the problem arises is when those beliefs are externalized in such a way as to impact my beliefs (or lack thereof).
For example: I happen to be a gay man. Thus, the topic of same-sex marriage is an important one to me. As you may know, recently the initial federal trial completed regarding the constitutionality of Prop 8 in California. The judge for the trial, Vaughn Walker, ruled that Prop 8 (which amended the California Constitution to disallow same-sex marriage) was a violation of the United States Constitution and a civil rights violation.
His primary reason for the ruling? The defendants (supporters of Prop 8) failed to produce any comprehensive evidence that same-sex marriage in any way harmed the institution of marriage or existing heterosexual marriages; they also failed to show that there was any truth to much of the information upon which the campaign was based (such as the idea that children raised by same-sex couples were at some sort of social disadvantage).
When it came down to it, the only reasons the defendants could provide were based in their personal morals, which were based in non-universal religious views.
Those beliefs left the personal space of their owners(personal as in their community), and impacted the millions of homosexuals living in California (and, indirectly, homosexuals across the country). At that point, the beliefs of the Prop 8 supporters imposed on the beliefs and freedoms of others - those gay men and women who wish to marry. The defendants failed to show that a homosexual, in exercising his or her right to marriage, somehow imposed on the beliefs of the backers of Prop 8, or on their rights to marriage. The externalization of their beliefs caused an unfair limitation on the internal practice of the beliefs of another group.
Since the law (as defined by Aristotle) is meant to be "reason, free from passion", beliefs are not a solid grounding for any regulation. Law should be based on impartial justice, because there is no such animal as a universal, objective morality upon which to base it. That does not mean that law cannot match up with certain morality in some areas - only that, if those areas are religious in nature, they cannot constitute the sole basis for those laws.
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." This must be kept true, and steadfastly enforced, in order to protect the individual's right to swing his fist. That means that when your fist meets the law, the law must prevail and your fist must withdraw.
And that is why I debate religion so fervently - not because I hate any god (it would be moronic to claim to hate a being I don't even think exists), or any religion, or the freedom of religion, but because to passively accept law based on religion would quickly lead to the crumbling of religious freedom itself.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Musings from the Abused Muse - August 19, 2010
It is easier to live within the house of straw you know than it is to brave the hurricane and seek safer dwellings.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Musings from the Abused Muse - August 18, 2010
I plan on regularly popping in to my blog to jot down things that I've thought of, that I (or others) found clever, enlightening, or humorous.
Here's additions for today:
"When someone on the Internet purports to have a diploma in anything, it's best to assume that the closest they got to a Masters degree was a beer bong at a frat party they crashed after dropping out of high school."
"Work is a place where you go do to things you don't want to do with people you don't like for money you don't get to keep."
Here's additions for today:
"When someone on the Internet purports to have a diploma in anything, it's best to assume that the closest they got to a Masters degree was a beer bong at a frat party they crashed after dropping out of high school."
"Work is a place where you go do to things you don't want to do with people you don't like for money you don't get to keep."
Divine sacrifice: Why the death of Jesus has no meaning
I sometimes frequent the Religion and Spirituality section of Yahoo! Answers. While I realize that the site is often populated by trolls and "Poes", nonetheless it does sometimes provoke useful thought. An earlier, completely-unrelated question I found on that community brought back a train of thought I had abandoned awhile ago, and I decided to ruminate on it a bit.
The (arguably) most pivotal moment of the Christian Bible is the crucifixion of Christ. It is one of the most recognizable icons of the religion, and probably the most widely-spread religious symbol in the United States. The crucifix or cross represents a reminder of the tale wherein Jesus, the son of the Christian god, willingly sacrificed himself to absolve mankind of its sins.
However, I note one major failing in this critical Christian chestnut: Christ's 'sacrifice' was nothing of the sort.
According to the Bible, Christ was the mortal embodiment of the Christian god - a divine vessel, filled with all the ability and knowledge of an omnipotent, omnipresent being. While he was supposedly the Son of Man, he was also the Son of God. That is the key point behind the 'crucifixion': That "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). It was meant to illustrate the sacrifice of a divine being in salvation of us poor mortals.
I fail to see how it was a sacrifice of any sort.
Christ knew that, upon death, he would be whisked away to eternal paradise - that, in return for a few hours of pain (and that is questionable; a divine being could simply 'miracle away' the pain), he would spend the rest of eternity as the supreme being (or at the supreme being's right hand, anyway - the whole Trinity thing is a bit befuddling).
The 'crucifiction' (as it was called by Robert Heinlein) is a canard. This was no glorious, divine sacrifice; it was a trick, as 'innocent' as any Fiddle Game played by a pair of confidence men. If God and Christ existed (a logical improbability), then they were simply toying with the affections of Christ's followers. I wish I could be privy to that fictional exchange:
Christ's disciples: Lord, we don't want you to die! Is there no way for us to save you?
Christ: No, no, *suppressed snicker* I must make this sacrifice for you so that you might live in eternity with me.
Christ's disciples: A mighty and humble being are you, Jesus! We adore thee!
Christ and Yahweh: Cha-CHING!
Christ: I'll be home in a bit, Yah. What a bunch of maroons!
Yahweh: Cool, could you do me a favor and stop by Mohammed's place on your way back? He owes me a fiver.
The (arguably) most pivotal moment of the Christian Bible is the crucifixion of Christ. It is one of the most recognizable icons of the religion, and probably the most widely-spread religious symbol in the United States. The crucifix or cross represents a reminder of the tale wherein Jesus, the son of the Christian god, willingly sacrificed himself to absolve mankind of its sins.
However, I note one major failing in this critical Christian chestnut: Christ's 'sacrifice' was nothing of the sort.
According to the Bible, Christ was the mortal embodiment of the Christian god - a divine vessel, filled with all the ability and knowledge of an omnipotent, omnipresent being. While he was supposedly the Son of Man, he was also the Son of God. That is the key point behind the 'crucifixion': That "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). It was meant to illustrate the sacrifice of a divine being in salvation of us poor mortals.
I fail to see how it was a sacrifice of any sort.
Christ knew that, upon death, he would be whisked away to eternal paradise - that, in return for a few hours of pain (and that is questionable; a divine being could simply 'miracle away' the pain), he would spend the rest of eternity as the supreme being (or at the supreme being's right hand, anyway - the whole Trinity thing is a bit befuddling).
The 'crucifiction' (as it was called by Robert Heinlein) is a canard. This was no glorious, divine sacrifice; it was a trick, as 'innocent' as any Fiddle Game played by a pair of confidence men. If God and Christ existed (a logical improbability), then they were simply toying with the affections of Christ's followers. I wish I could be privy to that fictional exchange:
Christ's disciples: Lord, we don't want you to die! Is there no way for us to save you?
Christ: No, no, *suppressed snicker* I must make this sacrifice for you so that you might live in eternity with me.
Christ's disciples: A mighty and humble being are you, Jesus! We adore thee!
Christ and Yahweh: Cha-CHING!
Christ: I'll be home in a bit, Yah. What a bunch of maroons!
Yahweh: Cool, could you do me a favor and stop by Mohammed's place on your way back? He owes me a fiver.
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