tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post113610865790462172..comments2023-10-29T10:32:36.914-04:00Comments on Philosophy, et cetera: 2005: My Web of BeliefsRichard Y Chappellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-1136354276226251542006-01-04T00:57:00.000-05:002006-01-04T00:57:00.000-05:00But Richard, it isn't clear why reasons to be mora...But Richard, it isn't clear why reasons to be moral must be moral reasons. <BR/><BR/>I'll reread that post. (I don't have time right now) I don't recall it answering my fundamental concern though. If the answer to "why be moral" reduces to either you're moral or your not then there seems ultimately something dissatisfying about it all.Clark Goblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876620613578404474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-1136352501594815232006-01-04T00:28:00.000-05:002006-01-04T00:28:00.000-05:00Clark wrote:"I didn't have time to read all the li...Clark wrote:<BR/><BR/>"<I>I didn't have time to read all the links. But I've glad you've come on board the externalist position within epistemology. Have you read Williamson's <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/019925656X/qid=1136181343/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-8080162-2310513?v=glance&s=books&n=507846" REL="nofollow">Knowledge and Its Limits</A> yet?<BR/><BR/>With regards to the religion issue, I'd be interested in you taking up atheistic ethics not in terms of what grounds ethics or what ethics is or even whether a person is ethic, but why a person would want to be ethic. You touched on it very, very briefly in the post you link to. But it does seem that most theists can offer fairly compelling arguments here. (As can quasi-theists who accept some kind of immortality such as Buddhists or Platonists)<BR/><BR/>Good, interesting post. A summary like this is always worth doing and its a nice collection of your good links as well.</I>"<BR/><BR/>Nope, I haven't read any epistemology at all this last year, though Williamson is definitely on the top of my list if I ever return to the subject. Re: ethics, I had a few relevant links on that topic, most notably my essay '<A HREF="http://pixnaps.blogspot.com/2005/06/why-be-moral.html" REL="nofollow">Why Be Moral?</A>' I can't imagine what extra reasons a theist could give, other than self-interested ones (e.g. the threat of divine punishment, heaven/hell, etc.), which I've previously explained aren't properly <I>moral</I> reasons at all.Richard Y Chappellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-1136177720390650582006-01-01T23:55:00.000-05:002006-01-01T23:55:00.000-05:00Yeah, Quentin Smith's Time began with a timeless p...Yeah, Quentin Smith's <A HREF="http://www.qsmithwmu.com/time_began_with_a_timeless_point.htm" REL="nofollow">Time began with a timeless point</A> explores that sort of idea. It does strike me as far more plausible than the dressed-up religious versions. (Though of course we're still left wondering why this 'first cause' exists, as always, so I don't know how helpful such ideas are.)Richard Y Chappellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-1136171103319222282006-01-01T22:05:00.000-05:002006-01-01T22:05:00.000-05:00Have you considered the possibility that there's a...Have you considered the possibility that there's a 'first cause' or other 'reason why existence exists', but one that has nothing to do with the anthropomorphic and metaphysically optimistic concepts of God that appear in most known religions?Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10768655514143252049noreply@blogger.com