Holy defensive statement, Batman, I think you've been spending too much time hanging upside down in your Batcave. Or, that's the way philosophers talk. Wait, I think I just used a disjunctive premise. Therefore, I am not a philosopher. Or view the world upside down. Or, never mind. Yes, okay, now, moving along in my Batmobile, what specific question does Erin need explaining? My explanation of her non-question is, humans are emotional creatures. Human morality is based on what we feel. We feel Saddam is on our side, we sell him mustard gas, so clearly that's moral. We feel Saddam is against us, so we take him out. Clearly that's moral too, since we're doing both actions. So, what is it you don't get about morality being an academic construct? I'm using the word academic loosely, as in something we read in a book that is irrelevant if mildly interesting to some people. The mind of man is so constructed that it is taken far more with disguises than with realities. Holy Erasmus, Batman! Did I say that? > [Original Message] > From: <wokshevs@xxxxxx> > To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Cc: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: 6/25/2006 11:25:01 AM > Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Aren't you glad you no longer have a Hitler problem? > > I'm not clear on how the disjunctive conclusion follows from the conjuctive > premise. We seem to have markedly different understandings of the term > "therefore." Is it simply stylistic in your usage? OK, now I'm really off to > watch the footballers. > > W.O. > > > Quoting Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>: > > > Morality may be grounded in rationality, but rationality is subservient to > > the emotions. Therefore, morality is either grounded in the emotions or > > it's an academic construct. Maybe that's why humanity talks a good line > > about morality while their behavior is downright venal. And that's on a > > good day. On a bad day ... > > > > > > > > > [Original Message] > > > From: <wokshevs@xxxxxx> > > > To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > > Date: 6/25/2006 10:38:57 AM > > > Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Aren't you glad you no longer have a Hitler > > problem? > > > > > > Quoting Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>: > > > snip > > > > > > > If > > > > two men both in principle endorse horrible violence, > > > > then the only moral criterion that remains to > > > > distinguish between them is that one was prepared to > > > > live up to his principles, while the other was not. I > > > > stand behind what I said in the above, but within its > > > > proper context. > > > > > > > > O.K. > > > > > > Irrational consistency cannot constitute a moral criterion since morality > > is > > > grounded in rationality. The perceptually challenged baseball umpire who > > always > > > calls a pitch two inches below the strike zone a strike is acting with > > perfect > > > consistency. (Source: Habermas or Larmore, I think.) It remains the case, > > > however, that he should not be an umpire. > > > > > > (But then is it still true that, in the words of one > > epistemologically-oriented > > > umpire: "They [the pitches] ain't nuttin' til I calls 'em."?) > > > > > > Rooting for Deutschland ueber alles, > > > > > > Dr. O. > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > > > Do You Yahoo!? > > > > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > > > > http://mail.yahoo.com > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > > > > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > > > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html