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What is morality? Can it be observed, measured, replicated? No? Then commit all philosophy on the subject to the flames.
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I just don’t understand where morality is supposed to come from, in a world without divinity. Or what it is supposed to be.
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@PyrrhicRational “Man is the measure of all things” – Protagoras.
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@VirtueSophist So utter subjectivism, then.
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@PyrrhicRational Not of the sort you’re probably thinking of.
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@PyrrhicRational My alliances where the metaphysics of morals are concerned lay with Burke, Hume, and Oakeshott, among others.
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@VirtueSophist Hard to swallow this line of argument. Tradition has involved a lot of terrible things. Slavery, racism, sexism.
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@PyrrhicRational The problem is you think that you can look at these things from the outside, when you cannot.
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@PyrrhicRational Your very belief that these old prejudices and institutions were wicked stems from traditions you remain embedded within.
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@PyrrhicRational These are sadly continuous with a lot of wickedness in both time and space—for wickedness is with us, always.
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@VirtueSophist I grant you this, but it’s precisely this point that drives me to despair.
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@PyrrhicRational Your despair is shared by many a disenchanted rationalist.
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@VirtueSophist It’s not rationalism that I am disenchanted with, but morality.
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@PyrrhicRational You shouldn’t be. You have been living a moral life practically since you were able to speak.
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@PyrrhicRational You ask too much of morality and moral philosophy. You ask for the kind of certainty that a true Christian believer has.
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@PyrrhicRational With moral rules were inscribed in the cosmos themselves by the will of a just and omnipotent God.
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@PyrrhicRational But you cannot have that certainty; it does not exist in this world for the non-believer.
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@VirtueSophist What is there, then? I don’t see the point of moral philosophy, and I certainly don’t see the point of virtue ethics.
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@PyrrhicRational To the question of the point of moral philosophy I point you to Oakeshott.
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@PyrrhicRational The role of the philosopher is to summarize specific moral traditions, and for making them give an account of themselves.
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@VirtueSophist Frankly that explanation is entirely incoherent to me.
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@PyrrhicRational There is only so much I can be expected to accomplish over Twitter!
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@PyrrhicRational Especially when you demand an externally validated, rationally formulated certainty, and nothing else.
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@PyrrhicRational You need to broaden your horizons beyond the rationalist tradition.
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@VirtueSophist I’m skeptical, but listening. Oakeshott is where you think I should begin?
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@PyrrhicRational It couldn’t hurt—Rationalism in Politics is a fine collection of his essays.
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@PyrrhicRational Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France is excellent, as well http://www.econlib.org/library/LFBooks/Burke/brkSWv2c0.html …
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@PyrrhicRational And it couldn’t hurt to get some Hayek in—Law, Legislation, and Liberty, especially the first volume, is quite good.
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@PyrrhicRational “The Use of Knowledge in Society” is good as well, and has the virtue of being short and online: http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/hykKnw1.html …
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@VirtueSophist We’ll see. Thank you for the recommendations, but I’ve also other things on my reading list.
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@PyrrhicRational As does any curious mind worth a damn! I hope I’m not being pushy.
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@VirtueSophist No, I asked. I’ll check out the Hayek essay, at least.
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@PyrrhicRational To be continued, then.
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