Category: Morality

Is there a moral arc to history?

The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. As someone who isn't able to find an objective basis for morality, I've often wondered what that means for the above statement from Martin Luther King.  It certainly feels like we're making moral progress, that the status of previously oppressed or marginalized people … Continue reading Is there a moral arc to history? →

The unavoidable complexity of morality

I've written before on why science can't determine morality.  This isn't a particularly controversial position (even if many of Sam Harris or Michael Shermer's followers find it so).  No one seems to have found an intellectually rigorous answer to David Hume's is/ought divide, that you can't derive an ought from an is.  To logically determine … Continue reading The unavoidable complexity of morality →

Sam Harris, the fact-value distinction, and the problem with a science of morality

A few years ago, Sam Harris published a book, 'The Moral Landscape', which argued that science could determine moral values.  To say that it received substantial criticism, from scientists, philosophers, and others, would be an understatement. Late last year, Harris issued a challenge for people to submit 1000 word essays challenging the thesis of his book.  He … Continue reading Sam Harris, the fact-value distinction, and the problem with a science of morality →

American positions on moral issues and tensions between the moral foundations

Gallup did a poll on American positions on various moral issues, finding that Americans are now more accepting than ever on a range of issues. Most of these I don't find particularly surprising.  Of course, it turns out that Democrats and Republicans have differences of opinion on many of them.  HuffPost, in their write up of … Continue reading American positions on moral issues and tensions between the moral foundations →

The scope of objective facts and morality

Our recent discussions, particularly on the thread about Jonathan Haidt's response to Sam Harris's challenge, left me thinking about the various scopes of objective facts.  In retrospect, it's a bit obvious to me now that a key question in moral philosophy is, if morality is objective, at what scope is it objective? Haidt used the … Continue reading The scope of objective facts and morality →

Moral values aren’t absolute, but aren’t arbitrary either

I'm working on another post with details about foundational moral instincts, but after some discussion on the 'Morality arises from instincts' post, I realized that I failed to make a couple of things clear.  So, I'm inserting this additional post to do that. First, let me clarify that, in these posts, I'm being descriptive, not … Continue reading Moral values aren’t absolute, but aren’t arbitrary either →

Why science, philosophy, or religion cannot determine morality

There are some famous thinkers, Sam Harris and Michael Shermer, among others, who are currently attempting to sell the idea that we should have a "science of morality".  They assert that moral propositions reduce to matters of fact about the wellbeing of conscious creatures.  Many philosophers, such as Massimo Pigliuci, take umbrage at this, seeing … Continue reading Why science, philosophy, or religion cannot determine morality →