He discusses that science can answer factual questions, thus resolving uncertainty in moral dogma defined conditionally on those answers. This is different from figuring out moral questions themselves.
I was not suggesting that science can give us an evolutionary or neurobiological account of what people do in the name of “morality.” Nor was I merely saying that science can help us get what we want out of life. Both of these would have been quite banal claims to make (unless one happens to doubt the truth of evolution or the mind’s dependency on the brain). Rather I was suggesting that science can, in principle, help us understand what we should do and should want—and, perforce, what other people should do and want in order to live the best lives possible. My claim is that there are right and wrong answers to moral questions, just as there are right and wrong answers to questions of physics, and such answers may one day fall within reach of the maturing sciences of mind
Sam Harris gave a TED talk a couple months ago, but I haven’t seen it linked here. The title is Science can answer moral questions.
It was so filled with wrong I couldn’t even bother to finish it, and I usually enjoy crackpots from TED.
Harris has also written a blog post nominally responding to ‘many of my [Harris’] critics’ of his talk, but it seems to be more of a reply to Sean Carroll’s criticism of Harris’ talk (going by this tweet and the many references to Carroll in Harris’ post). Carroll has also briefly responded to Harris’ response.
My reaction was: bad talk, wrong answers, not properly thought through.
He discusses that science can answer factual questions, thus resolving uncertainty in moral dogma defined conditionally on those answers. This is different from figuring out moral questions themselves.
That isn’t all he is claiming though:
He does claim this, but it’s not what he actually discusses in the talk.
I’m always impressed by Harris’s eloquence and clarity of thought.
This is a blog devoted to rationality—it’s no wonder it hasn’t been linked here.
Why do you say that? What do you mean?