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I actually side with the lobsters in this example (e.g., I believe it is wrong to boil a lobster alive for the mere sensory enjoyment of eating the lobster). Bu
by georgewsinger 5y ago
I actually side with the lobsters in this example (e.g., I believe it is wrong to boil a lobster alive for the mere sensory enjoyment of eating the lobster). But yes, many other humans don't.
But that doesn't mean there aren't moral facts. It could instead mean that either the humans or the lobsters are wrong, and there is a good argument that one of them hasn't considered as to why they are wrong.
If you disagree, then you must not believe that there are scientific facts either? After all, two separate people can disagree over which scientific theory is true/best fits the evidence (which is a process that boils down to asking which theories best comport with our raw sensory appearances, BTW). But if mere disagreement implies that there can't be truths in a domain, then this would mean there are no scientific facts, which is of course absurd.
It's a much more plausible position to think that there are controversial scientific theories which we are less certain of, that one (or both) parties to scientific disagreements are just mistaken, but that there are after all scientific facts. Similarly, it is much more plausible position to think that there are controversial moral theories which we are less certain of, that one (or both) parties to moral disagreements are just mistaken, but that there are after all moral facts.
- HKH2 5y agoNot the GP, but I don't see a problem with rejecting scientific absolutism as readily as moral absolutism. Is not skepticism part of science?
- DangitBobby 5y agoMy point was not that the conclusion (there are absolute moral truths, thus moral nihilism is false) is necessarily incorrect; it's that the arrival to the conclusion is based on a something I disagree with ("I have a ready example of an absolute moral truth."). I think there may be absolute moral truths, but that explaining them fully would be incredibly difficult or maybe impossible, and disproving moral nihilism that way would be intractible. I also side with the lobsters, BTW :)