[MD] The Moral Landscape

[plattholden at gmail.com]

Hi Mark,

I couldn't agree with you more. You have deftly revealed what's behind the 
curtain of science's claim to "truth." What's true is what Pirsig observed: 
"Science has no values. Not officially." Just as it is impossible for a 
calculator to calculate itself, it's impossible for a discipline that has no 
values to comprehend values.

Best,
Platt    



On 19 Oct 2010 at 9:46, 118 wrote:

On Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 7:31 AM, Steven Peterson
<peterson.steve at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi Marsha,
>
> On Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 10:11 AM, MarshaV <valkyr at att.net> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Steve,
> >
> > When you state "Our claims about morality can have truth-value
> > and be as objective as our scientific claims."  are you talking
> > about some definition of scientific objectivism?
>
> Steve:

I'm promoting pragmatic anti-skepticism. I'm saying that we not not be
> any more skeptical about moral truth than we are about scientific
> truth. Anyone objecting to moral truth as not resting on firm
> foundations similar to those of scientific claims can be shown that
> moral claims in fact do not suffer by comparison to scientific ones in
> terms of epistemic grounding. All the criticisms typically made for
> the possibility of moral knowledge can be shown to apply equally to
> scientific knowledge that we are not skeptical about.
>

 Hi Steve,
In my experience, science is based on skepticism, asking questions, trying
to disprove.  It is important to be skeptical about scientific truths else
wise we do not advance.  The practical applications of scientific methods
are meant to uncover truth, not define it.  I would go so far as to say that
science presents a false notion of truth.

The foundations of science are not necessarily firm, they are accepted.  If
we are not skeptical about scientific knowledge it is due to the profound
indoctrination and resulting faith in its dogma.  Such a thing is termed
Scientism.  This is not railing against science per se, it is a judgement
against its applications to areas where it does not belong.

Science is based on a system of equality through measurement.  The accurate
measurement of truth lies outside in the regions of religion or philosophy
or just plain common sense.  Such truth is not derived through scientific
methods, but through more intuitive approaches.  Our communication with
Quality at a fundamental level is not measurable, it creates the concept of
measurement itself.  It is impossible for a calculator to calculate itself.

Regards,
Mark