Re: Logic makes a comeback: morality and materialism

Russell Stewart (diamond@rt66.com)
Fri, 30 May 1997 16:38:30 -0600

At 12:09 PM 5/30/97 EDT, you wrote:
>Adrian writes:
>
><<Yes, it may be rational to assume that people are like ourselves in
>general, but my question was why it necessarily follows that we should
>treat others the way we like to be treated, instead of simply taking
>advantage of them? You have not shown why maximizing happiness is
>rational, nor have you shown why it is moral.>>
>
>Well put, Adrian. That is exactly the point.
>
>It IS logical to assume others don't like to be hurt, just as we don't like to
>be hurt. But it is an unsupportable leap to say that THEREFORE it is "bad,"
>that we OUGHT NOT hurt other people.

Just as it is an unsupportable leap to say that God exists and that He
really believes that we should have respect for all life.

>What if I don't care what they don't like?
>
>Hitler believed that hurt (death) could be inflicted on an entire people for a
>higher good. For him, hurt was a GOOD thing. And, as always, the materialist
>is powerless to contend for the "wrongness" of his actions.

Just as the Christian is.

_____________________________________________________________
| Russell Stewart |
| http://www.rt66.com/diamond/ |
|_____________________________________________________________|
| Albuquerque, New Mexico | diamond@rt66.com |
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2 + 2 = 5, for very large values of 2.