• The Red Zones Of Philosophy (Philosophical Dangers)


    Right and breathing kills because every dead person did breathing.
    Buddha obviously had some sort of eating disorder I bet that’s what killed him.
  • The Red Zones Of Philosophy (Philosophical Dangers)
    As you can see, there are certain areas in philosophy (Nihilism, Absurdism) that have known negative effects on our mental well-being and that, in my humble opinion, if not counteracted with an opposing positive force, this force either itself another philosophical perspective or, as in most cases, Prozac, could lead to matters spiralling out of control until the inevitable happens...suicide.TheMadFool

    How did you determine philosophy of any kind leads to suicide? How have you determined that any philosophy leads to spiralling out of control?

    To summarize, in the simplest sense, should books on philosophy carry a statutory warning like cigarette packets do: SMOKING PHILOSOPHY KILLS?TheMadFool

    No, because there is no evidence that philosophy kills. At all.
    If you want to lay some instances of mental illness at the feet of philosophy you have to be able to show how you can tell the difference between the philosophical cause and a pre-existing mental illness. How would you be able to tell when it was the philosophy doing it?
  • The why and origins of Religion
    I know the basic question has been asked many time and in different ways but what I would like to hear and discuss from others the why of religion or more exactly why do humans have the belief that there is some entity or entities outside of their own species that have influence and determination of their being something after the physical death of a human.David S

    Religion is mankind’s first attempt to explain the world around them, born of fear of the unknown. Fear of death is at the foundation of religion and from that fear comes a need for comfort.
    So, fear and comfort.
  • Whence the idea that morality can be conceived of without reference to religion?
    Indeed, and some religions criticize believers who obey religious laws out of fear of punishment or out of hope for a reward.baker

    A red herring I think. These religions that make such criticisms simply fail to recognize that fear of punishment and hope of reward are the basis for their beliefs as well.
  • Legalization and Decriminalization of Drugs in the US
    Yeah, completely agree. It’s funny how once a drug epidemic started affecting mostly white suburban and rural kids they changed their tune. Yet with the crack epidemic all anyone wanted to do was increase policing, especially in predominantly black neighborhoods. I’m willing to remain open minded about the intent behind these efforts, maybe it’s coincidental, I don’t really know. But it certainly sends the message that we, as a country, care more about white people than other minorities.Pinprick

    Or they care more about a people with money than those without. The crack epidemic was in poor black neighbourhoods, and suburbs are generally doing much better financially.

    That said, when it comes to drugs, or laws in general, what I look for first is the justification for prohibiting that act. If that appears reasonable, then I look at whether or not that justification is applied consistently. The justification for banning drugs seems to be because they’re harmful and addictive, at least that’s the primary justification as I see it. That’s true enough, but if all harmful and addictive things should be banned, then McDonald’s should have been shut down a long time ago. So I think the best solution is to try our best to allow each other the liberty to make our own decisions when those decisions only affect ourselves.Pinprick

    Well the research into drugs and drug addiction is showing that it’s less about the drug and more about the person. Trauma is what leads to addiction, not drugs. Everyone who has had surgery has been given opioids yet rarely do people come out of these surgeries craving more. This is because of the setting and reason for taking the drug...if your trying to fill a hole with drugs that’s when you’re going to face addiction.
    That’s one of the reasons legalizing drugs is a good thing, that frees us to learn more about them. That’s what we do with all drugs already except the ones arbitrarily deemed dangerous.
  • Whence the idea that morality can be conceived of without reference to religion?


    Very well put sir.
    If you only do the right thing because you are commanded to you are not acting morally, you are acting the slave.
  • Do Atheists hope there is no God?
    I don’t know why this question has gotten 13 pages of mileage.
    Asking if atheists hope there is no god is like asking if atheists like vanilla ice cream. They may or may not, as like their taste in ice cream whether or not they hope god doesn’t exist will vary with each individual.
    Hoping whether god exists or not isn’t definitive of atheism, what’s definitive of atheism is whether or not you believe there is a god and that’s it.
    Some atheists might like the idea of god bit just are not convinced there actually is one. Other atheists are anti-theists and reject that there being a god is a good thing.

    Just asking this question displays an ignorance of what atheism is.
  • In praise of science.
    How about a method?ssu

    Wouldn’t the method be the tool?
  • In praise of science.


    Well that’s another topic but caring doesn’t seem the sort of thing you need a good argument for. You either care or you don’t, and whether or not you should care about something has no bearing on if you actually do.
  • In praise of science.
    Obviously I'm not just talking about what I care about in an emotional sense. This is a philosophy forum, I'm asking how to address the problem from the perspective of moral philosophy.Echarmion

    Right, and if the survival of humanity isn’t important to your moral philosophy then my argument wouldn’t apply. I’m not knocking that perspective I’m just conceding that my argument requires that you care about humanities survival.

    The difference to me is that I'm already alive and I want to keep being alive. This doesn't apply in the same way to potential future generations. And it's not just about having or not having future generations. It's about whether or not the advantages to actual people outweigh the drawbacks for potential people.Echarmion

    I’m not sure how to respond to that. I’m not really concerned with future generations or drawbacks for potential people I was talking about survival of the species.
    Survival of the species is good, science is bad because it will ensure our species will not survive.
  • In praise of science.
    Does it? This is a serious question. Why do we care about the ultimate survival of humanity? For one, as long as we don't figure out a way to get around the 2nd law of thermodynamics, total destruction will happen anyways. For another, future humans aren't actual people. They're potentials. Their moral standing seems questionable. How is it to be measured?Echarmion

    Sure, if you don’t care about the survival of humanity then science isn’t bad according to my argument.
    Also, just because total destruction will happen anyways in billions of years doesn’t mean we should not care about being destroyed now. That’s fallacious, like saying there is no point to living because you eventually die.
  • In praise of science.
    And then the question is, what's the price we're willing to pay for that delay? You're calling it a grace period, but it means real, tangible benefits for a lot of real people? How do we even begin to weigh these against future risks?Echarmion

    Same way we do with all future risk assessment. In this case we know that science is the tasty poison that will eventually kill us. So we weigh the benefits against total destruction. Total destruction trumps those benefits and shows us that science is bad.
  • In praise of science.
    Science is a good thingBanno

    Science is not good. Science and technology advance much faster than does our process of evolution. (Biologically and sociologically) Inevitably science will advance faster than we can adapt to it. An example would be the way science has effected the way we communicate...science/tech has greatly changed the way we do it. Socially and biologically we aren’t adapted to it. That’s why it (social media especially) has such a detrimental on our mental health and well being.
    Because science will always evolve faster than our societies, our biology and our understanding of science it will inevitably cause conflict and destruction when it interacts with human biology/society, science is NOT good. There will be a grace period where we enjoy it’s benefits, especially the siren call of medical technology, but the science will advance beyond our societies and biology quickly and with exponentially increasing speed until it destroys us.
    It will always evolve past our ability to understand and utilize it. Some examples of what I mean:
    -We invent nuclear weapons before we figured out how to get along.
    -we make it easier to soapbox and spread (mis) information before we have adapted socially enough to do it responsibly.
    -we invent ways to cross vast distances quickly but lack the evolution of culture/foreign policy to do that without destroying the cultures and the places we land.

    You can even see where science cusses internal problems within science. The cross vast distances point illustrates this...we had the science to get across the ocean but not the science to stop the spread of disease that wiped out 90% of the native population.
    So not only is science bad as it interacts with other things it also results in disaster entirely within its own paradigm.

    Science is bad because we can never use it properly (it advances faster than our ability to use it properly does) and will inevitably lead to the destruction of all humans. It only seems like science is good because we are enjoying the benefits that will inevitable turn to poison and kill us.
    I’ll end with an analogy:
    Science to humans is like chocolate to the dog. It’s so tasty and delicious until the dog dies from it. The sweet taste of chocolate disguising it’s poisonous nature.
  • Legalization and Decriminalization of Drugs in the US
    Because people are discovering that most of what they’ve told about drugs and drug addiction is a bunch of bullshit.
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?
    A trans man is a person who was assigned female at birth and later identifies as/transitions to being a man. Did you mean to be referring to trans women (those who are assigned male at birth and later identify as/transition to being a woman)?Michael

    Yes, thank you. I meant a trans woman.

    But on the topic of trans men, should they compete in women's or men's sports?Michael

    Not sure, there are complications either way, that’s why I thought an open league of some kind might work.
    I’ve heard some people suggest transitioning to no leagues and no restrictions on performance enhancements. A free for all. Not sure that works either.
    To me the answers to this question are not nearly as obvious as the trans woman competing against biological women.

    This is true. According to this study it takes at least two years of hormone therapy for transgender women to match cisgender women in push ups and sit ups, although they still have an advantage in the 1.5 mile run.Michael

    Right but we are talking competitive sports. General athletics as opposed to a very specific physical activity as you’ve referenced. For combat sport bone density and structure are important and hormone treatments only reduce those things so far. A biological woman might outdo a trans woman at push ups, sit ups and even the run but still be at an unfair advantage at specific sports.
    But anyway, eventually the hormone treatments will be so good none of this would be an issue. The treatments will keep getting g better till the differences are no longer significant.

    Using the study above you'll see that trans men have a significant advantage over trans women. So should there be both a transgender men's league and a transgender women's league? Perhaps also an intersex league for those with ambiguous genitalia/other sex chromosome disorders?Michael

    There is no link to the study. Maybe two leagues sure.
    Genitalia and most chromosome disorders do not confer advantages or disadvantages of performance as far as I know, so none issue.

    Do you have examples? I've found two: Mary Gregory in powerlifting (after just a year of hormone therapy) and Veronica Ivy in track cycling.Michael

    A few have been mentioned, but no I don’t have references on hand. I found them pretty easily when I searched though.
    You can also compare records to get data on this as well. I’ve read articles (which in the news media of today is always to be taken with a grain of salt) that say high school boys do as good or better than biological women pro level athletes. That’s telling as well.
  • Do Atheists hope there is no God?
    :lol:

    That was pretty entertaining.
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?
    If someone won't show the due nuance-fu to say something like: "Going through the puberty associated with male natal sex might render an unfair advantage to trans women in sport" vs "trans women shouldn't be allowed in women's divisions because they're not real women", then I don't see why I should interpret something which is indistinguishable from transphobia with good intent.fdrake

    I can’t see where anyone said that, or made that argument. Is lack of nuance bigotry? Again, doesn’t intention matter? It doesn’t seem like it’s that difficult to ask some probing questions before determining whether someone is a bigot or not. Maybe if it’s so so easy for phrasing to be indistinguishable from transphobia there is a problem with how loosely you define transphobia?

    I can't chart out necessary and sufficient conditions, or contexts, for phrases to be prejudicial for you. A rule of thumb might be - does the post deny that trans women are women or rely upon that in the argument?fdrake

    Well it gets really important for you to chart things out a bit when “lack of nuance” and poor phrasing will get someone banned.
    I mean...you do realize the irony of moderating someone for lack of nuance while explicitly refusing to use nuance in determining whether or not they are transphobic, right?
    I’m not trying to be difficult but that’s a bit rich.

    I will be much more suspicious of claims that don't articulate the issue precisely, if you're going to make a hot take which I can't easily distinguish from transphobia - and that's a low bar - expect it to be deleted. If you want to have this kind of discussion, get your nuance on.fdrake

    Ya that’s not a very nuanced approach, I don’t think it’s that low a bar if what’s been said so far qualifies. I haven’t detected any transphobia, have you? (Again, not a snide comment)
    At least it’s deleted comments, I thought you were about to drop the ban hammer.
    Thanks for responding, I do appreciate your efforts.
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?


    Your views are the ones that matter to my inquiry because you are the one who will decide which such distinctions will result in being banned.
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?


    Ok, so what does it mean to say that? If someone is trying to make a distinction between biological women and trans men/women it can be semantically confusing, Calling the biological woman a “real” woman is one way of doing that. I understand that a transphobic person would use that term in a derogatory sense but surely intention matters here?
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?


    Well there are already well watched sports that feature mediocre athletes (compared to the top ones) right? Different divisions get different viewerships with the most elite athletes getting the most viewership. I’m not sure why it would be different with a new open league or trans league. Friends, family etc...all the people that fill the bleachers at non-trans, non-top pro sports games.
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?


    Are we allowed to talk about what it means to say “trans women are not real women”?
    Not being snide.
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?


    Every once in a while you need to be reminded not to bother addressing me. I have nothing to say to you, I consider you a bad actor (dishonest and foolish) with whom it is pointless to engage. Stop wasting your time.
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?
    It came from women athletes supportive of women's sports trying to find a compromise. I don't see a political agenda beyond trying to figure out the best thing to do.T Clark

    Trying to find a compromise IS a political agenda in this case. They are trying to defend their sports from the total compromise of fairness and integrity. If it wasn’t political then they would just keep things the way they are and trans men wouldn’t be competing with women. It’s only because they are responding to a political agenda that they need to compromise in the first place. Know what I mean? The best thing to do would be to keep trans men out, and only by indulging political pressure would you consider not doing that.
    If you still have doubts and don’t have the energy for a deep dive then just look at combat sports and what’s been going on there with trans athletes. Mediocre male league fighters become champions in the women’s league. It would be a joke except it’s horrifying to watch a trans male beat the shit out of a woman like a domestic abuse victim. Like I said (not directed at you but in general btw) if you disagree that trans men have a huge physical advantage then you’ve lost your mind and need to rethink.
    One day science may help change that when the natural biology can truly be be evened out with treatments but we aren’t there yet and as far as I can tell the research has more political basis than science.

    “It appears that there is a possible compromise, whether or not this is exactly the one.“

    I’m not so sure there is a rational compromise for the reasons stated above...what did you think of the idea of a trans league?
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?


    You have to look closer at that research. I understand they are trying to make policy but a year of hormone therapy doesn’t even the playing field by a long shot.
    The data just doesn’t support that research, it’s politically driven research.
    What makes sense to me would be a trans league, or an open league of some kind.
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?


    Right?! She is clueless on trans, ignorant. You just have to listen to one of the god awful interviews celebrating her to realize it’s more about celebrity, spotlight and attention seeking than anything else.
  • Is Caitlyn Jenner An Authority On Trans Sports?


    Well Caitlyn Jenner is a narcissistic meathead, not sure why anyone would want to listen to her regardless of topic. She would be an authority on winning gold medals and being a champion perhaps but trans issues? No.

    I’m got a better question, why would you need to be a gold medalist in order to be an “authority” on whether or not trans men should compete in women leagues?
    Anyone not blinded by ideology can see the problem. All you have to do is look at how badly women’s world records are being shattered every time a trans male competes in women’s leagues of any and all sports. All you have to do is talk to some of these women who have worked their whole lives to achieve peek performance only to have less skilled and less dedicated trans men come in and use their huge physical advantage to take a dump on the women’s sport/league and every woman in it. All you need to do is look at the numbers...mediocre competitors become champions when they switch to a woman’s league.

    If a trans male actually cares about women then they should stay out of the women’s leagues. To do otherwise is an affront.
    If you think biological males do not have a tremendous physical advantage that compromises a women’s sport and any integrity or honour of the women in that sport then I’m sorry to tell you that you’ve lost your fucking mind. Time to reevaluate.
  • Do Atheists hope there is no God?
    Exactly. We can't exclude the possibility on logical or philosophical grounds.Apollodorus

    Yes, it would be overreaching to say it wasn’t at least possible.

    I never said "always". I said "denial is often a fear reaction". That's an established psychological fact.Apollodorus

    I’m not saying you did, I intended only to clarify. I don’t know how often denial is a fear reaction compared to other sources of denial but yes I think denial and fear are psychologically linked.

    We agree on these two points. I’ll wait for you to respond to the rest of what I said.
  • Do Atheists hope there is no God?
    Yes, but as far as I am aware, denial is often a fear reaction. It is a function of the defense mechanism that seeks to protect the ego from things that the individual cannot cope with or thinks it cannot cope with.Apollodorus

    Denial is not always a fear reaction, so atheism is not always a fear reaction. So associating fear based denial with atheism is fallacious.

    It may well be that some atheists reject the idea of God on “rational” grounds. But not all people are rational, many are emotional and react emotionally to ideas and other things.Apollodorus

    Sure, you would have to ask the person what the reasons for their atheism. If you didn’t believe them and want to deny what they say and posit fear based denial as their reason then you would have to demonstrate that to be the case. (And no, the fact that it is possible does not demonstrate this).

    I understand what your personal opinion is, but is there any scientific reason to exclude the possibility of that denial being rooted in fear, anxiety, etc. when those emotions often result in denial?Apollodorus

    There is no “scientific” reason to exclude the possibility, but only the possibility. All we could say is that that is one possibility until we get more information to conclude one possibility over the others.
  • How it is and how we want it to be (Science and religion)
    We are not. Fallibilism is built into the very idea and method of science. So if your thesis is that science is just like religion because both are dogmatic, then you are missing the mark. And I don't think it's fair to characterize religion as essentially dogmatic either. At least in some religious practices there is a place for searching, doubt, dispute and progress.SophistiCat

    Well said but I wondered how you are defining religion there. All religions reference a higher power, if not an outright god then at least some form of enlightenment. I would say that is essential to religion (higher beings, higher realms of existence or states of being). I think that by the nature of that belief itself there is inherent dogmatism so even if at lower tiers there is room for searching, doubt etc there is still the surrender to this higher power and its dogma.
  • Solutions For A Woke Dystopia
    I didn't ask you to agree with any such assumption. I posited that in a situation where this is the case, then going "this group has worse outcomes, therefore it's being discriminated against somehow" is a viable first approximation. For reference, we can assume the ethnic groups are french and germans, or New York and Chicago citizens.Echarmion

    Sorry I accidentally hit the post button, there was more to my last comment.
    Anyway, worse outcomes=discrimination needs to be backed up with some evidence of discrimination. Sometimes that can be demonstrated, and other times it cannot. If it cannot, then we shouldn’t assume discrimination. That seems pretty straightforward to me.
  • Solutions For A Woke Dystopia
    Your point is that different outcomes mapping to, say, ethnic groups is not a sign of a problem, even if we assume there are no fundamental biological differences between the groups?Echarmion

    There are fundamental biological differences among some groups. I don’t recall agreeing to the assumption there isn’t.

    My claim is that "equality of opportunity" and "equality of outcome" describe different judgements of an outcome. You claim that they describe different methods.Echarmion

    Those are not mutually exclusive, they can describe both can’t they? Again, I don’t much care what you want to call it.

    I obviously don't believe that, so I don't believe you can actually describe any method. So I expected you to not do that, and instead claim that you cannot do so in the abstract. So now I am asking you to do it in the concrete then, though I expect you cannot do that either, because that would prove me wrong, while I think I am right.Echarmion

    It’s generally a good idea to not reach conclusions to questions that haven’t been answered yet, and extra not good to draw conclusions based on questions you haven’t asked yet based on answers you don’t have yet.
    Lol, ok, so a game of gotcha it was. Nice to have that confirmed, thanks.
    I could use many different examples, but let’s start with something obvious. I want to hire someone to do heavy lifting. I put out the call to whoever in the land can lift the most weight to all demographics. That would be equality of opportunity, everyone gets to try out for the job. All the strongest people from all the demographics show up. If I’m hiring 10 people for the job, it’s going to be men in the top ten position from those demographics because the top ten strongest men are going to be way stronger than the top 10 women. So the demographic for whose doing my heavy lifting job is going to skew to men.
    Equality of outcome would be to look at the top 10 strongest and see they are men and then replace a number of men with women so the demographics of the heavy lifting job look more like the demographics of the general population.
    There are many such examples, certain demographics skew to certain jobs and career paths. Not just between men and women but between different different cultures, ethnicities, religions and race as well. The degree to which these are factors vary, but that these factors have a statistical trend based on demographics is supported by the data.
  • Solutions For A Woke Dystopia
    I specifically stated "if you believe there are no biological differences". Cultural differences cannot justify different outcomes as every difference can be framed as "cultural" and consequently no comparison would be possible.Echarmion

    Describe the differences in demographics however you like, makes no difference to my point.

    That's exactly the answer I expected to get. Ok then, give me one specific case and sketch the different methods.Echarmion

    Why did you ask the question then? And why wouldn’t you just ask for a specific example if that’s what you wanted?
    I explained the concept to you, do you not understand it and need an example or are you just asking leading questions so you can play gotcha?
  • Solutions For A Woke Dystopia
    Based on what though? Why would interests just happen to line up with some unrelated demographic grouping? That'd imply precisely that the demographic grouping and the interest are not independent.Echarmion

    Based on the traits of each demographic. There are general trends within demographics. (Cultural, biological etc)

    Can you tell me what the methods are, then?Echarmion

    It would be specific to each case. It’s a question of what you are building the system to do (equality of outcome or equality of opportunity) and which way is better. The exact method used would be whatever is best suited to equality of opportunity
  • Solutions For A Woke Dystopia
    For a first approximation, that is probably a good strategy though. If, for a given field, you don't think there are any significant biological differences between the groups involved and the sample size is large enough, results should correspond to the makeup of the population in general. If they don't, something else is going on. Now something else is almost always going on, not necessarily something bad. But it's a legitimate cause for concern if the ratio is way off from what it should be given the makeup of the population.Echarmion

    I don’t think the groups will naturally corespondent to the demographics. Certain professions for example attract certain kinds of people. These professions will naturally have more people of that certain kind. Some fields or areas will not have diversity because the interest in that field or area isn’t all that diverse.

    I consider the dichotomy between equality of outcome and equality of opportunity to be a false one. The terms imply two distinct methods, when in reality it's not a question of method, but of goals.Echarmion

    I think you are using those terms idiosyncratically, and that’s why you think it a false dichotomy. Those two things are indeed two methods and they are mutually exclusive.
  • Solutions For A Woke Dystopia
    How do we know that "equal outcome" isn't concerned with merit or qualification? Equality is a value judgement. It can and usually does include considerations for qualifications and experience. Is there any mainstream view which espouses a strict quota system based on some form of identity without consideration of merit?Echarmion

    Well in the context of race/gender etc I think the idea for some is that the proper metric for a fair group selection is diversity. That idea is about “equality of outcome”, the goal is for the group to have a proper amount of of diversity. A mainstream example would be affirmative action.

    I'm very sceptical regarding this claim, as I don't see how it would be possible a priori to know whether a given system actually filters out only "undesirable traits". In my view, the only way to check is by looking at the output and comparing it with other metrics to figure out whether or not the process works. "Equality of opportunity" a judgement of an outcome, the term does not describe any specific method.Echarmion

    The specific method of “equality of opportunity” is usually about creating a system where everyone has a fair shot, an equal playing field.
    I agree with your view and on looking at the output, that’s a good way to check what a systems actually doing but I was more talking about system design. Specifically, whether the idea of “equality of outcome” is better than “equality of opportunity”.

    I think you're ascribing a specific goal to equality, based on a political usage of the word, which is not inherent in the term.Echarmion

    Well yes, that was what I was making a point about. The political usuals. That’s what the discussion had been about.

    If you want a panel of the best doctors, then the only reasonable application of the term equality is that people on the panel should have the highest qualification possible, regardless of other factors. In other words all factors except qualification should be considered equal (you don't care about their marital status etc).Echarmion

    Yes, that was the point I was making. I think we are using terms a bit differently, I’m not sure we are in disagreement about the concepts.
  • Solutions For A Woke Dystopia
    What's the difference between "outcome by merit" and "equal outcome"? "Merit" is not the name of a physical law or constant.Echarmion

    The difference is that “outcome by merit” means the most qualified person gets the job (for example), based upon n the merits of their qualifications. “Equal outcome” is not concerned with merit or qualification in this context, but with making sure their is a diverse range of race/gender etc regardless of qualifications/merit.
    The point being made I think is that equality of outcome is more problematic because it doesn’t filter out incompetence or any other undesirable traits, where equality of opportunity does while at the same time is an explicit effort to make sure no one is left out do to race/gender etc.
    Think of selecting a panel of doctors to save a loved ones life. You want the panel to have the best doctors right? If you gathered the best and it turns out it’s majority black, white, straight, gay or whatever then equality of outcome demands that some of the best doctors be swapped out so that the panel is diverse.
  • “Why should I be moral?” - Does the question even make sense?
    Ethics/morality is more or less the study of what you should do. So, when saying “why should I be moral?”, surely that is no different to saying: Why should I do what I should do.
    That seems to not make sense (maybe?), so surely asking “why should I be moral” has its answer embedded in the question itself.
    I feel like there is a mistake in her somewhere, please tell me.
    Georgios Bakalis

    Ethics isn’t the study of what you should do its more specific that that. It would be the study of what you do according to an ethical standard. It isnt the study of what you should do to train your dog for example, right? It’s specific to a ethical standard, of which there are many different kinds.
    So rephrased “why should I be moral?” is actually more like “why should I do what I should do according to so and so ethical standard”, which illustrates the two different contexts of the word “should”. It is an awkward sentence but none the less it isn’t fallacious. I think you fell into a semantic trap .
  • Where do we draw the line between the relative and the absolute?
    At this point, one may get the sense that everything is relative, but that can't be the case right? Surely there have to be some absolute facts about the world.Mr Bee

    Well couldn’t something be a fact and be relative? I’m not sure those two terms are mutually exclusive in the way you are using them. Time is relative according to Einstein, yet when time distorts because of gravity there is still a fact of the matter depending on the relative position.

    So perhaps there are some matters that are relative and others that are absolute. There are some issues that have absolute answers (like those in philosophy) and others (like direction) that don't. But how does one go about distinguishing between the two? At least that's the issue that I've been grappling with as of late and currently I don't have much of a satisfactory answer apart from the fact that I feel like that's how things should be.Mr Bee

    I’m not sure how you are using “absolute” here...is 2+2 equals 4 absolute? What kinds of philosophical answers are absolute?
    I’m confused about your treatment of “relative” being the opposite of absolute, is that how you are using the terms? Like “up” and “down”?

    Of course on the other hand this may just mean that everything is either relative or absolute, but then the question becomes which one to pick. On the one hand I like to think that there is an absolute set of facts out there to uncover about the world, but at the same time I also don't like the idea that there is some sense of an "absolute left" in the world.Mr Bee

    Well there are facts out there to be discovered, but also there are facts about relative positions. “Left” is relative, but that doesn’t change the fact that something can be factually to your “left”, and factually to someone else’s “right” at the same time. Right? It’s not like the fact that the other persons position which puts the object on their “right” somehow makes the object not to your “left” anymore..it’s still absolutely to your “left”.