4 ms·

If you want to throw around oughts and shoulds, I would confine those to the rational/empirical side of the spectrum because that is the very foundation upon wh

• dragonwriter 11y ago
  > If you want to throw around oughts and shoulds, I would confine those to the rational/empirical side of the spectrum Oughts and shoulds are the foundation on which rationality in decision-making is founded, but cannot be reasoned to or empirically tested without assuming an axiomatic ought or should to start with.
• astazangasta 11y ago
  Eh? No, humanity is not constructed on a rational/empirical basis. For example, most people want children; this is not rational, it's simply the way humans are constructed. We enjoy music. We need sunlight to be happy. We have a desire to live; none of these things are rational, they just are. We have deep-seated fantasies about our position in the world; we imagine ourselves to be heroes in a long-running saga. We cleave the world along the planes of this narrative into 'good' and 'evil'. We hate, despite assurances that the contrary is better, to be told what to do. Unless we respond to this, our human side, our efforts will always fall dead. We can't construct a society that doesn't acknowledge our humanity and expect that people will want to live in it.