Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
It may "make sense," but it doesn't in any way explain why reason cannot be the basis of morality, something you have said over and over but have not been able to explain (perhaps because you see moral reasoning as futile?).
The problem you have with language -- what do words mean, and how do we communicate? -- is one that has occupied many smart people for a long time. I have no simple answer, but it's not a problem that worries me. And in the context of our conversation, it has nothing to do with the alternative bases for morality, for one can ask the same question about religion -- how do we understand God's wishes?
So the leap you make from your first paragraph here to your second is a huge one. I disagree that you either "agree on a code" or "agree on selfishness." I'm not even sure what it means. Did you look at that link I posted on partially theorized agreements? In the law, people often agree on specific (moral) outcomes even when they can't agree on broader principles. The converse is often true as well.
And I can come up with logical explanations of why (most) killing is wrong. You just see discussing it as futile, or something.
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I have tried to explain why reason cannot be the basis of morality. It seems really obvious to me but you clearly think I am wrong. To me the word moral is like the word legal. The word legal makes absolutely no sense without a legal code. You can't reason why something is illegal or illegal. It either violates the law or it does not (you can argue over the rational for the existence of the law but not if the law exist).
I guess another way to look at it is without a code morality needs a goal. If the goal of morality is selfishness then you reason it out. You can say the goal of morality is social cohesiveness. But in the end that is just selfishness because social cohesiveness is really promoted by an individual because it is in their self interest.
What do you think the goal of morality is?
I don't think you have come up for reasons that killing is wrong (beyond selfishness).
