If a word is defined in all dictionaries, then the claim that it is completely meaningless is extraordinary and poorly motivated. Dictionaries are of course only significant because they make usage concrete.
If a word is defined in all dictionaries, then the claim that it is completely meaningless is extraordinary and poorly motivated
The claim was about incoherence not whether it was “completely meaningless” and I fail to see how motivation is either relevant or you get anything about a claim being poorly motivated from this. If you prefer a different analogy, consider such terms as transubstantiation, consubstantiation, homoousion, hypostatic union, kerygma and modalism. Similarly, in a Hebrew dictionary you will have all ten Sephirot defined (Keter, chochmah, etc.). Is it is extraordinary and poorly motivated to say that these kabbalistic terms are incoherent?
The point about motivation is about where burdens lie.
The discussion so far has been about the accusation that somebody somewhere is culpably refusing to define “morality”. This is the first mention of incoherence.
“incoherent” is often used as a loose synonym for “I don’t like it”. That is not a useful form of argument. The examples of “incoherent” concepts you gave are a mixed bag of concepts ranging from the well defined but false, to the well defined but ungrounded, to the ill defined. If you want to say what
specific kind of incoherence “morality” has IYO, feel free.
he examples of “incoherent” concepts you gave are a mixed bag of concepts ranging from the well defined but false, to the well defined but ungrounded, to the ill defined. If you want to say what specific kind of incoherence “morality” has IYO, feel free.
You seem confused about what argument CuSithBell is arguing. The argument is not that morality is fundamentally incoherent or meaningless but that most definitions of it fall into those categories and that our common intuition is not sufficient to have useful discussions about it, so you need to supply a definition for what you mean. So far, you seem to have refused to do that. Do you see the distinction?
If a word is defined in all dictionaries, then the claim that it is completely meaningless is extraordinary and poorly motivated. Dictionaries are of course only significant because they make usage concrete.
The claim was about incoherence not whether it was “completely meaningless” and I fail to see how motivation is either relevant or you get anything about a claim being poorly motivated from this. If you prefer a different analogy, consider such terms as transubstantiation, consubstantiation, homoousion, hypostatic union, kerygma and modalism. Similarly, in a Hebrew dictionary you will have all ten Sephirot defined (Keter, chochmah, etc.). Is it is extraordinary and poorly motivated to say that these kabbalistic terms are incoherent?
The point about motivation is about where burdens lie.
The discussion so far has been about the accusation that somebody somewhere is culpably refusing to define “morality”. This is the first mention of incoherence.
“incoherent” is often used as a loose synonym for “I don’t like it”. That is not a useful form of argument. The examples of “incoherent” concepts you gave are a mixed bag of concepts ranging from the well defined but false, to the well defined but ungrounded, to the ill defined. If you want to say what specific kind of incoherence “morality” has IYO, feel free.
How are motivations relevant to where burdens lie?
Really? So, what about here?
You seem confused about what argument CuSithBell is arguing. The argument is not that morality is fundamentally incoherent or meaningless but that most definitions of it fall into those categories and that our common intuition is not sufficient to have useful discussions about it, so you need to supply a definition for what you mean. So far, you seem to have refused to do that. Do you see the distinction?