[MD] Mystics and Brains

[craigerb at comcast.net]

[Craig quotes Nozick]
"Not every philosophical view presupposes that there are objective values or
objectively true "ought" statements, with the only question being how these
connect to other facts.  One view, nihilism, holds that there are no
objective values at all; no ethical truths hold apart from our opinions.
Closely related are various subjectivist or relativist positions which hold
that thinking or agreeing makes it so, or that ethical statements simply are
expressions of emotions or preference having no independent objective true
content.
Value or preciousness of persons has a duel role in my interpersonal
actions...My value fixes what behavior should flow from me; your value fixes
what behavior should flow toward you."
(Robert Nozick, Philosophical Explanations, p. 400)

[Case]
So are you for it or agin it?

[Craig]
It's true that: some actions & people are more moral or more valuable than others; there are some things we ought to do & some things we ought not to do; some people are more objective about these matters than others; & a person might be more objective at one time than another.  It is for philosophy to explain how these truths are possible & how we can know them.  (The explanation might be identical.)  That values are objective or that ought statements are objectively true is not part of the data but might be part of some explanation, good for some time & for some purposes.
Craig