Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

WJM on Arguing with Subjectivists

Share
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flipboard
Print
Email

Zeroseven said:  “Hi Vivid, I’m not much of a logician. Just give your practical example and we can explore it.”

If you are not going to explore a practical example logically, what use is exploring it at all? To share your personal feelings?

Here’s the problem in for those that wish to interact with Aleta, Zeroseven and Clown Fish: it is utterly unimportant to them that their worldview, statements and behavior be logically consistent. This is why it simply doesn’t bother them to admit that they are hypocrites – insisting on one thing (that morality is subjective) while behaving the opposite way (like morality is objective), and why they keep raising objections that have already been thoroughly refuted (like morality is subjective because people don’t agree about it).

They do not enter conversations with a critical rationalism that they may be wrong about morality being subjective; they “know” it is subjective. Since they are not “logicians” and don’t care if their logic is in error, what good is rationally demonstrating the logical errors in their views? Their idea that morality is subjective is not based on any logical examination of their worldview premises leading to inferences then to rational explanations for actual behavior; it is based solely on sentiment – an emotional rejection of what objective morality would mean (theism), and personal sentiments about other people and their behaviors.

You cannot prove someone wrong about their subjective sentiments no matter how irrational or hypocritical those sentiments are. You cannot logically argue someone out of a faulty view if they didn’t come to that view via logic and if they do not consider logic a valid arbiter of truth.

While these exchanges are good as object lessons for many viewers, erroneous emotional investments cannot be corrected rationally. One would have to actually be committed to having a rationally coherent perspective before any logical argument might penetrate their commitment to their emotional views.

Without believing there is a truth by which some views can be considered erroneous, there is no valid corrective by which one can think they should correct their view. It’s just their personal, sentimental view of how things are, and they do not have to justify that view because there is – in their mind – no objective truth to such matters, and logic is not an arbiter of any real, objective truths.

I would add that while what WJM says is true, the logical incoherence of their views does not stop them from advocating for the use of the State’s monopoly on violence to force you and me to abide by those views.  Does anyone else see the irony of a moral subjectivist forcing a Christian baker to use his artistic skill to celebrate a homosexual wedding?

Comments
07 "I think for most people here the safest thing is to adopt the default position that everything is morally wrong and then work from there." Don't you think it's the other way around? We imagine what a perfectly moral being would do? I don't lie because a perfectly moral being would always tell the truth; and so on and so forth.CannuckianYankee
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
05:27 PM
5
05
27
PM
PDT
Zeroseven Hi Mike, that premise just doesn’t make sense to me. That's too bad. How could a baker refuse to bake a cake on moral and spiritual grounds? What do morals and spirits have to do with baking a cake? The Bible says homosexuality is an abominable sin. Some people are convinced in their heart and soul that this is correct, and that to support and celebrate homosexuality by making a cake for a homosexual wedding would offend God. Is this the first time you're being informed of this? In any case the law requires that people providing goods and services don’t discriminate. In this case, that's too bad, since it's easy to find some other business that would accommodate the request. But zealous culture warriors are not really interested in wedding cakes. They want to harass people and "teach the offenders a lesson" because they think this will advance their cause that people "accept" their homosexuality. Little do they realize the harm it does to their own position, because it makes people like me (and their are lots of us) who are of the opinion of "live and live, and leave the religious people alone" pissed off about the culture warriors insistence of ramming their acceptance of homosexuality down other peoples throats, when it deeply offends their moral sensibilities. If the baker was Muslim would you endorse them refusing service to Jews? Yes. The Jews could, as you say, take a breath, smell the roses, and easily find a baker was Jewish friendly and who would gladly take their money for providing a cake. Nobody is being "persecuted" in modern America. Sidebar: people can freely choose to discriminate to patronize businesses based on whatever reason they choose. But for some reason you don't believe this should be a symmetrical freedom. For example, a person might be inclined to choose to visit a Jewish restaurant or doctor or lawyer instead of a Muslim one. Are you also in favor of forcing people to discard their personal preferences in these decisions and force them to patronize businesses owned by people they don't like? Should white people be forced to marry black people? Should pretty people be forced to marry ugly people? Why not? If we don't pass laws to force this, this unfairness will never end! My view is that people and businesses should be free to do business with whomever they want, regardless of the reason. Why is your view better than mine? If the baker was black and their spiritual belief was that whites were created inferior by god, would you endorse them refusing service to white people? Yes. And why should religious/spiritual views be singled out for special treatment. Why is homosexuality singled out for special treatment? Why should homosexuals be protected, and Nazis not be protected? Is it OK for a cake maker to refuse to make a cake for the KKK? Is it OK to force a homosexual cake maker to a cake for a some group that believes "God Hates Fags" and wants to put it on a cake? You are entitled to your religious views and I am entitled to afford those views no respect whatsoever. You are entitled to your sexual views and practices, but I am entitled to afford those views no respect whatsoever. Anyway, I didn't believe you were going to agree to your own advice about "taking a breath, smelling roses", etc. This is not really about homosexuals getting cakes for their weddings. Why would any homosexual couple want to give their money to a cake maker who doesn't want their money? Find someone else. This is not difficult to do anywhere in the USA. But this is about culture warriors ramming the "acceptance" of homosexuality and homosexual marriage down the throats of primarily Christians. But you just keep on keeping on. You're not doing yourself any favors. Trust me. In this case, the underdog are the Christians, and people love to support the underdog against bullies of whatever stripe.mike1962
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
05:25 PM
5
05
25
PM
PDT
CF "That is blatantly obvious given the way that some here continue to believe in things like objective morality and ID in spite of the evidence. As the old saying goes…You can lead a jackass to water, but you can’t make him drink." I don't think you realize how utterly ignorant of your materialist dilemma that statement is. You've probably been told this before; but if you can't trust the cells of your brain, neither can you trust that what you determine as evidence is reliable. If your mind or your thoughts are simply the input/output mechanisms of brain material that evolved for no purpose, then the notion that you can then determine truth is completely undermined. This may be the insight of why you don't believe that absolute morality exists; but it is also the insight invariably for why you shouldn't believe any rational proposal; including "copious amounts of evidence." Why then bother forming rational arguments at all?CannuckianYankee
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
05:24 PM
5
05
24
PM
PDT
07 So you take a breath and smell roses except when is time to sue baker.Eugen
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
05:14 PM
5
05
14
PM
PDT
CF, a wise person does not focus personal identity on morally questionable behaviour or attitudes, but instead starts from his or her morally governed, responsibly free nature and what that points to at the root of reality. Further to this such a person will not falsely claim as a right state backed power to intimidate others into supporting or enabling in morally dubious behavior. There is more, but that's a start. KFkairosfocus
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
05:13 PM
5
05
13
PM
PDT
Mung @93: I think for most people here the safest thing is to adopt the default position that everything is morally wrong and then work from there.zeroseven
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
05:05 PM
5
05
05
PM
PDT
Is it morally wrong to argue with a moral subjectivist?Mung
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
04:51 PM
4
04
51
PM
PDT
KairosFocus: "07, are you aware of why freedom of conscience and worship is regarded as one of the fundamental freedoms? KF" Are you aware that freedom of conscience does not extend to discrimination? I still have a hard time understanding how being Christian allows you to deny services to someone because they are gay.clown fish
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
04:48 PM
4
04
48
PM
PDT
I have no problem with freedom of worship. You are entitled to believe in whatever gods you want and worship in whatever way you choose provided it hurts no one else.zeroseven
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
04:44 PM
4
04
44
PM
PDT
07, are you aware of why freedom of conscience and worship is regarded as one of the fundamental freedoms? KFkairosfocus
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
04:28 PM
4
04
28
PM
PDT
KF, you do a lot of sobering reading. Try reading something more uplifting. Or at least funny. I recommend Irvine Welsh.zeroseven
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
04:27 PM
4
04
27
PM
PDT
Mike1962: Hi Mike, that premise just doesn't make sense to me. How could a baker refuse to bake a cake on moral and spiritual grounds? What do morals and spirits have to do with baking a cake? In any case the law requires that people providing goods and services don't discriminate. If the baker was Muslim would you endorse them refusing service to Jews? If the baker was black and their spiritual belief was that whites were created inferior by god, would you endorse them refusing service to white people? And why should religious/spiritual views be singled out for special treatment. You are entitled to your religious views and I am entitled to afford those views no respect whatsoever.zeroseven
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
04:25 PM
4
04
25
PM
PDT
CF, here is the tape, from 76:
Despite the fact that the lot of humanity consistently improves over the centuries you and your fellow travellers always believe we are on the brink of the abyss. What is it with the apocalyptic fantasies? Take a breath and smell the roses.
KF PS: I think Churchill's The Gathering Storm will be some sobering reading.kairosfocus
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
04:19 PM
4
04
19
PM
PDT
Kairosfocus: "CF, the implication is we are on a rosy trend, indeed he went on to say go smell the roses...." No, he never said, or implied, that we are on a rosy trend. You are reading things into comments that aren't there. I have already corrected you on this. But in one respect I must agree with 07. You have to stop and smell the roses. The world is full of beautiful and wonderful things (and people). By constantly tilting at windmills, you are letting the joys of life slip you by. If you go through life with a "glass half empty" attitude, you will get exactly what you expect out of life. And that is a sad way to go through life.clown fish
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
04:12 PM
4
04
12
PM
PDT
CF, the implication is we are on a rosy trend, indeed he went on to say go smell the roses. The reality is as I pointed out: it is futile to say peace, safety and prosperity when the requisites are missing. Just to pick an example, one of the reasons WW II was so awful was that the general public and governance classes of leading democracies refused to face grim reality until it was too late. KF PS: And I am pointing to the GENERAL corruption of stabilising worldview, moral, cultural, social and institutional factors going back across decades and constituting a march of folly. The attempt to impose a counterfeit of marriage under false colour of law is part of a destructive pattern, not something by itself. It is comparably destructive to mass abortion because both undermine the crucial stabilising force of society, marriage and family. Mass divorce is of similar impact, as is the porn plague. But mass abortion goes beyond as it is patently the worst holocaust in history, imposing unparallelled mass bloodguilt. Just try 50 mn/y x 40 years x 1/2 to account for growth. Bloodguilt is the most corrupting influence I know.kairosfocus
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
03:51 PM
3
03
51
PM
PDT
Kairosfocus: "CF, I responded to 07 in 76: “Despite the fact that the lot of humanity consistently improves over the centuries you and your fellow travellers always believe we are on the brink of the abyss.” My remarks are fair corrective comment in that context — especially as the issue of the inherent instability of democracy and the potential impacts of manipulated marches of folly is a material issue discussed over the course of some weeks, anchored in HISTORY rather than “apocalyptic [–> loaded word] fantasies”. KF" No, they are not fair corrective comment. 07's claim about the lot of humanity consistently improving over the centuries is accurate. Average life expectancy has increased. Infant mortality has reduced. The rights and freedoms of individuals is higher now than it has ever been. Education and health care is affordable for all. Discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation and culture is no longer tolerated. All of this in the western civilization that you keep claiming is heading over the cliff. And not just any cliff. One the result in a broken back. The fact that you are laying much of the blame of your dire predictions on SSM is just, forgive the inflammatory language, batshit crazy.clown fish
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
03:42 PM
3
03
42
PM
PDT
zeroseven: Take a breath and smell the roses. So I take it, if a baker refused a request on moral and spiritual grounds by a homosexual couple to make a wedding cake, that you would tell the gay cake-seekers to take a breath, smell the roses, and find a gay friendly baker, instead of pressing charges, hauling the baker into court and suing him out of business?mike1962
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
03:35 PM
3
03
35
PM
PDT
CF, I responded to 07 in 76: "Despite the fact that the lot of humanity consistently improves over the centuries you and your fellow travellers always believe we are on the brink of the abyss." My remarks are fair corrective comment in that context -- especially as the issue of the inherent instability of democracy and the potential impacts of manipulated marches of folly is a material issue discussed over the course of some weeks, anchored in HISTORY rather than "apocalyptic [--> loaded word] fantasies". KF PS: And BTW, there is a world of difference between imagining ourselves always on the brink and warning that in our time we are playing carelessly with some very dangerous policy, political, legal and geostrategic matches. I also suggest our demographics and debt troubles are not helpful.kairosfocus
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
03:28 PM
3
03
28
PM
PDT
Kairosfocus: "It is ignorance of history that makes it seem that progress is inevitable and that democratic government is stable." Good job building that strawman so that you can knock it over. Maybe you should pour a little oil of red herring on it so that we can set it ablaze with the matches that we are not aware that we are playing with. Nobody has claimed that progress is inevitable. Only that change is inevitable. The fact that this change over the last few centuries, with some significant slides, has been towards the better must really rile you.clown fish
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
03:22 PM
3
03
22
PM
PDT
john-a-designer@63: Excellent distinction.Truth Will Set You Free
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
03:19 PM
3
03
19
PM
PDT
CF, you continue to ignore objective evidence and linked issues, to try to cast the problems of evolutionary materialism as simply reducible to a clash of opinions where no opinion is of any more or less weight than another. That pattern itself speaks volumes. KFkairosfocus
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
03:15 PM
3
03
15
PM
PDT
07, history tells us development is by no means steady or sustained. The obvious case of the collapse of the W Roman empire has other parallels, and the case of the first democracy, Athens, is instructive. It is ignorance of history that makes it seem that progress is inevitable and that democratic government is stable. It is not, democracy has been very carefully stabilised but we are now knocking out the stabilisers. Chief among those stabilisers is exactly the frame of manifestly evident core principles of the natural moral law, which is so despised in "progressive" circles. The history of the Peloponnesian war and its aftermath is replete with sobering lessons; as was pointed out, also cf o/l here and lectures here. KFkairosfocus
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
03:12 PM
3
03
12
PM
PDT
CY: "If that is so, then I’m under no compulsion to accept any opinion that you think is true; regardless of the “copious amounts of evidence.”" That is blatantly obvious given the way that some here continue to believe in things like objective morality and ID in spite of the evidence. As the old saying goes...You can lead a jackass to water, but you can't make him drink.clown fish
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
03:11 PM
3
03
11
PM
PDT
What's that Shakespeare line about Sound and Fury? You guys go straight from baking cakes to Nazis without batting an eyelid! Despite the fact that the lot of humanity consistently improves over the centuries you and your fellow travellers always believe we are on the brink of the abyss. What is it with the apocalyptic fantasies? Take a breath and smell the roses.zeroseven
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
02:53 PM
2
02
53
PM
PDT
Clownfish said: [ That the mind exists outside of the brain is also an opinion, with no evidence to support it. Yet the hypothesis that the mind is the sum of all physical aspects of the brain (electrical, chemical, structural, etc.) is an opinion supported by copious amounts of evidence. ] That the thought exists outside the brain is an opinion, with no evidence to support it. Yet the hypothesis that the thought is the sum of all physical aspect of the brain (electrical, chemical, structural, etc.) is an opinion supported by copious amounts of evidence. If that is so, then I'm under no compulsion to accept any opinion that you think is true; regardless of the "copious amounts of evidence."CannuckianYankee
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
02:26 PM
2
02
26
PM
PDT
Marfin @ 38 [ So what are the limits to the message a baker can refuse put on his cake , if during ww2 a German asks a baker to put congratulation on your 10,000 jew exterminated , or what if now a guy wants to have a polygamous marriage arrangement with his son and his daughter would that be ok to write congratulations on such a close family relationship. ] But the more basic issue here; regardless of conscience is this: Is a business obligated to sell whatever a customer wants them to sell? That's really the bottom line; and the answer is "no." The government cannot compel a business to sell what it does not want to sell. The only exception might be that the selling of one product necessitates the selling of another. I.e., two products that cannot be sold separately. Or a product that must be made available for sale if the the other is for sale. Here's where the SJW's are wrong on this issue. They think that the baker issue is one of discrimination against the person requesting the gay themed cake. It's not. The issue is more fundamental than discrimination. It's freedom to bake whatever product the baker chooses to bake. He is under no obligation to bake what his customer wants. The customer is of course free to negotiate with the baker that such and such a cake be baked; but that does not obligate the baker to comply; and there is no apparent discrimination against a person involved in such a decision. Those who try to make this about discrimination of person are simply wrong. They are arguing for a fascist position, where the state now controls commerce. And these people who get on here and argue that there are no absolute values are essentially fascists. They want the government to force morality; because they believe that's the only means of achieving a civilized society; civilized meaning where the "right" groups are not offended. And they of course are among the "right" groups. Because they have no other value than that they themselves aren't displeased, they want to compel the government to please them at the expense of those who disagree. They have completely abandoned reasonable discourse, as we've seen here. The agitprop tactics we see on display here are typical of the SJW culture all around: no argument, just accusation; shaming; strawmanning; etc. It doesn't matter. The ends justify the means. And they aren't really interested in "social justice," (a term that at one time actually had meaning). It's now just a buzz word for shaming those with a different viewpoint.CannuckianYankee
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
02:04 PM
2
02
04
PM
PDT
Kairosfocus: "The oh that’s just an opinion, in that context, simply fails." How is it less of an opinion simply because there are other people who agree with you? There are many people who believe that 9/11 was orchestrated by George Bush and his cronies, and that vaccines cause autism, and that the moon landing was faked. Simply because they have fellow travellers who believe the same crack-pot idea does not make it true. That the mind exists outside of the brain is also an opinion, with no evidence to support it. Yet the hypothesis that the mind is the sum of all physical aspects of the brain (electrical, chemical, structural, etc.) is an opinion supported by copious amounts of evidence. Similarly, that morality is objective is an opinion with little evidence to support it other than wishful thinking, but the hypothesis that morality is subjective is an opinion with evidence to support it that goes back thousands of years. The fact that you must perform mental and logistic gymnastics in order to establish some shred of logical legitimacy for an objective morality should tell you something.clown fish
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
01:19 PM
1
01
19
PM
PDT
Here is an example of where moral subjectivism can lead.
“Then I learned that all moral judgments are “value judgments,” that all value judgments are subjective, and that none can be proved to be either “right” or “wrong.” I even read somewhere that the Chief Justice of the United States had written that the American Constitution expressed nothing more than collective value judgments. Believe it or not, I figured out for myself – what apparently the Chief Justice couldn’t figure out for himself” ”that if the rationality of one value judgment was zero, multiplying it by millions would not make it one whit more rational. Nor is there any “reason” to obey the law for anyone, like myself, who has the boldness and daring “” the strength of character “” to throw off its shackles. … I discovered that to become truly free, truly unfettered, I had to become truly uninhibited. And I quickly discovered that the greatest obstacle to my freedom, the greatest block and limitation to it, consists in the insupportable value judgment” that I was bound to respect the rights of others…
https://www.thinkingchristian.net/posts/2010/10/morality-without-god-would-i-care/#comment-24049 I recognize that not every subjectivist is going to reach the same conclusions and act the same way as Bundy. The point is that from the view point of subjectivism there is nothing wrong with his reasoning, because there is no right or wrong. His logic is airtight. Is it not? If he is right there is no basis for human rights, because there is no such thing as moral obligation. Do you think I am being extreme for citing Ted Bundy as an example? While I would hate for there to be more Ted Bundy’s, I think his thinking on moral subjectivism was less dangerous than the subjectivism that is presently infecting society. Bundy wasn’t trying to affect or change society as a whole, he was only trying to justify or rationalize his own contemptible behavior. Of course, our moral subjectivist interlocutors could respond by giving us some examples of evil absolutists. Okay, go ahead try that. See where it all leads.john_a_designer
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
01:07 PM
1
01
07
PM
PDT
Kairosfocus, at start, refs https://uncommondescent.com/atheism/fyi-ftr-cf-and-mark-victor-tushne-on-victory-in-the-culture-wars/ ------------------- "Rom 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong [NIV, “harm”] to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. [ESV]" ------------------ I fully support your stance. As you said then KF: "God, have mercy on us." A question arises; it appears somewhat hypocritical to rebuke atheists and others, when the majority of Christians do not love God with all their heart, strength, soul and mind, that is, when He clearly said He created in six days? Ref Jesus (Matt 15: 3-9). If we break one law we break them all (James 2:10). And, if we elasticate one law, we can elasticate them all. If one law is deemed flawed the rest will follow. Atheists see such standards. Many Christians and pro Darwinist Christians, see such; compromise or leave altogether the faith, while those who may have entered, see little reason to do so.mw
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
12:48 PM
12
12
48
PM
PDT
Clown Fish
However, others will have different moral values (than mine) that are just as deeply held. The best explanation for all of this, as observation and history suggest, is that our moral values are subjective.
No. The best explanation is this: If a man's behavior does not conform to a moral principle, he will soon find a moral principle that conforms to his behavior.StephenB
June 2, 2016
June
06
Jun
2
02
2016
11:22 AM
11
11
22
AM
PDT
1 2 3 4 5 6

Leave a Reply