Morality (valid or not) consists of the set of values you choose. The
values come first. No circle here.
Admit that your *most* basic values are not
> chosen, but inherited (whether genetically or memetically
> or both).
>
I was raised as a christen but now I'm an atheist. The christen world
view did not compute with what I was actually seeing. Is a meme
"inherited" if it was created by the simple act of observation? Nobody
tried to talk me into becoming a non believer, quite the opposite in
fact. How did I come to reject christen values then?
> >Cry in vain as you might that you are not
> >making any such judgments you can't get around it. To say something is
> >"cool" for example is a moral judgment.
>
> (a) I agree with Bob that it's at least as accurate to
> portray this as an aesthetic judgement, as a moral one.
>
> (b) I didn't mean it in that sense anyway, or I'd have
> left out the quote marks. What I meant was, maybe this
> view is too detached, disinterested, apparently
> passionless, for some people. Of course, that wouldn't
> prevent it being cool in the other sense, too. :-)
>
> >As long as you remain a mortal creature you cannot
> >pretend to detach yourself from the necessities of life, and morality
> is
> >one of them.
>
> That's yet to be established, around here.
Do you have values? Do you think that lying or stealing is a "bad"
thing? Would you like to live around someone who thought it was
perfectly acceptable to do such things? If a child molester moved in
next store would you be unconcerned about the safety of your children?
As living beings we have two alternatives: life or death. To choose life
we must choose those values which will sustain that life. Otherwise you
die.
> >I call em as I see em and if that means "projecting" , so
> >be it.
>
> If you're projecting, what you're seeing and calling is part
> of *you*!
>
> >( Asking me not "to project" is another moral judgment, by the
> >way)
>
> No, it's a request motivated by practicality.
> --
> Robin
Morality is practical! A lot of superstitious drivel has unfortunately
been bundled up with the concept of morality and that is why I suspect
you resist. But a valid morality, one based on actual life, is the most
practical thing that a person can have!( see above)
Nate H.