> However, it's a "subjective system of
> emphatic morality" that the vast
> majority of people alive happen to
> agree with, so I feel fairly secure
> in it.
What you may be overlooking is the extent to which this "subjective
system of emphatic morality" could simply be the transcendent system
expressed through the hearts and minds of all men. One of the important
ideas expressed in Christianity is that G-d did not just communicate His
laws to Christian believers. On the contrary, He gave everyone an
innate understanding of the *spirit* of His moral law. Consider the
following passage from our scriptures:
"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things
contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto
themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts,
their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while
accusing or else excusing one another." Romans 2:14-15 KJV
For a moral system to be truly transcendant, we should expect to find it
outside the philosophy that described it, and that is exactly what we do
find. That you feel secure in the "subjective system of empathic
morality" is due entirely to the transcendant nature of G-d's law. That
there can be no real security without Him is due to the human tendency
to deny, refuse, and resist Him.
Russ
Russell T. Cannon
rcannon@usa.net