Re: virus: bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?

Robin Faichney (robin@faichney.demon.co.uk)
Sun, 2 Aug 1998 12:53:56 +0100


In message <35C37340.94F51808@qlink.queensu.ca>, Eric Boyd
<6ceb3@qlink.queensu.ca> writes
>I think we agree in substance but perhaps not in words. You say "moral
>judgments are based on emotions", I say that moral judgments, like
>emotions, represent "hard-wired" responses to situations which our
>childhood training has encoded into us.

I think judgemental reactions are much more flexible than
that, unlike the more basic emotions, which are genetically
based. Except in the sense that there has to be some
genetic potential for *everything* we do, I don't think
there's any genetics in moral judgements.

>*I* think that properly trained,
>moral judgments can be accurate -- e.g. a morality based on the value
of
>human life will rarely steer you wrong.

But what, exactly, does "wrong" mean here? I say it must
ultimately be based on practicality, or it's useless.

-- 
Robin