For anyone still wondering what a "serious philosopher" is all about, have a looksie below. (This endorsement does not extend to a blanket acceptance of the author's views on Kant's or Habermas's moral theories.:-) Walter O. Direktor, Festivities Division, Holy Trinity Greek, Russian and Serbian Orthodox Church, Oxford, England Quoting Phil Enns <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>: > Lawrence Helm wrote: > > > "[C]onsider those who recently demonstrated that they couldn't tell the > difference between a terrorists act and the act of someone fighting > terrorism. I continue to think that this problem is one of education. We > no longer teach logic." > > The problem isn't one of logic, since we are operating in the realm of > discussion and debate. For example, people will operate with different > premises and logic won't be of much help in addressing these differences. > Nor do I think it is an issue of education. This list has some very well > educated people who disagree with each other. > > In my opinion, the problem with many of those who claim a similarity between > a terrorist's act and the act of someone fighting terrorism, is their > inability to articulate satisfactorily the differences. Often, this failure > is a result of a commitment to the claim that mores are expressions of > social structures. For example, on this account, the difference between a > criminal shooting a person in a drive-by and a police officer shooting the > criminal in the course of making an arrest, is one between conflicting > social groups. The criminal most likely comes from a background of poverty > and abuse while the police officer represents primarily the interests of > those who are established and privileged. On this account there is little > or no grounds for condemning the criminal and justifying the police officer > because there is no recourse to an independent standard for making > judgments. There are only descriptions of who people are. Intuitively we > know that the criminal is wrong and the police officer is justified, but how > is this intuition to be articulated? One can, of course, introduce talk of > 'criminals' and 'terrorists', but these are terms relative to a particular > social structure. Few would self-identify as being a criminal or terrorist. > So one person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, and each is an > expression of a particular social milieu. > > But, again, intuitively we make the moral judgment that there is an > important difference between the criminal and the police officer that is not > satisfactorily accounted for with descriptions of social structures. The > commitment to explaining the differences solely through descriptions cannot > account for the seemingly universal belief that certain acts are wrong no > matter who does them. The terrorist is different from the person attempting > to stop the terrorist because what the terrorist is doing is wrong, no > matter their background. The person who refuses to draw on a standard > beyond social structures is unable to satisfactorily account for this 'wrong > no matter who they are'. > > For those of us who are religious, or believe that there are grounds for > making general moral claims, it is then possible to articulate satisfactory > accounts of the difference between terrorists and those trying to stop them, > even though we may disagree. But without those grounds, all one is left > with is descriptions noting similarities and differences, unable to make > judgments. > > I should also note that the 'all is social structures' crowd includes those > who advocate 'spreading democracy' or defending 'the American Way'. In both > cases, 'wrong no matter what' is collapsed into 'our ideals' and so getting > people to acknowledge right and wrong is identical to having them adopt > 'our' way of doing things. I say this to guard against the misconception > that the issue is one of 'right' and 'left' or 'conservative' and 'liberal'. > > > Sincerely, > > Phil Enns > Glen Haven, NS > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > 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