tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post8767343258992763607..comments2023-10-26T22:06:11.166+11:00Comments on Metamagician3000: What can Darwin teach us about morality?Russell Blackfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-14156951370047399912010-03-21T10:18:37.536+11:002010-03-21T10:18:37.536+11:00I wouldn't even talk about ethics "emergi...I wouldn't even talk about ethics "emerging". I guess it's true as far as it goes, but gives an impression that sounds wrong to me. I'd say we have various reasons for action, some of which are other-regarding but all of which relate to our contingent psychological makeup. I don't have a view about philosophy of mathematics, but I don't think it helps - it seems to me to be explaining something difficult and controversial by way of something even more difficult and controversial.Russell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-49529400269676621262010-03-18T08:29:31.575+11:002010-03-18T08:29:31.575+11:00Thanks Russell. Do you think it makes sense to po...Thanks Russell. Do you think it makes sense to postulate that ethics don't exist a priori to human beings, instead emerging from increasing social complexity? In a way, perhaps ethics are both discovered and invented (there are those who believe the same holds true for mathematics).Emilyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04875049769507596353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-40671493733902983522010-03-17T10:47:57.427+11:002010-03-17T10:47:57.427+11:00Well, in a nutshell, it means that there's a d...Well, in a nutshell, it means that there's a deep error in the way people normally think about ethics. <br /><br />Usually, the point is that people normally think about ethics as "objective" in a certain sense, when it isn't objective in that sense (which doesn't, however, mean that it's just arbitrary). The idea is associated with JL Mackie, and more recently with various contemporary philosophers such as Richard Joyce.Russell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761391.post-65601283556161647992010-03-17T09:11:35.865+11:002010-03-17T09:11:35.865+11:00Hi Russell, just wondering: what does it mean to b...Hi Russell, just wondering: what does it mean to be an "error theorist when it comes to questions of meta-ethics?"Emilyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04875049769507596353noreply@blogger.com