Your position on moral realism has a respectable pedigree in moral philosophy, but I don’t think it is parallel to your position on physical realism.
As I understand it, your response to the question “Are there electrons?” is something like:
This is a wrong question. Trying to find the answer doesn’t resolve any actual decision you face.
By contrast, your response to “Is human sacrifice wrong?” is something like:
Not in the sense you mean, because “wrong” in that sense does not exist.
I don’t think there are philosophical reasons why your positions on those two issues should be in parallel, but you seem to think that your positions are in parallel, and it does not look that way to me.
I don’t think there are philosophical reasons why your positions on those two issues should be in parallel, but you seem to think that your positions are in parallel, and it does not look that way to me.
Without a notion of objective underlying reality, shminux had nothing to cash out any moral theory in.
As I understand it, your response to the question “Are there electrons?” is something like: This is a wrong question. Trying to find the answer doesn’t resolve any actual decision you face. By contrast, your response to “Is human sacrifice wrong?” is something like: Not in the sense you mean, because “wrong” in that sense does not exist.
Not quite.
“Are there electrons?” “Yes, electron is an accurate model, though it it has its issues.”
“Does light propagate in ether?” “Aether is not a good model, it fails a number of tests.”
“is human sacrifice an unacceptable behavior in the US today?” “Yes, this model is quite accurate.”
“Is ‘wrong’ independent of the group that defines it?” “No, this model fails a number of tests.”
Seems pretty consistent to me, with all the parallels you want.
You are not using the word “tests” consistently in your examples. For luminiferous aether, test means something like “makes accurate predictions.” Substituting that into your answer to wrong yields:
No, this model fails to make accurate predictions.
Which I’m having trouble parsing as an answer to the question. If you don’t mean for that substitution to be sensible, then your parallelism does not seem to hold together.
But in deference to your statement here, I am happy to drop this topic if you’d like me to. It is not my intent to badger you, and you don’t have any obligation to continue a conversation you don’t find enjoyable or productive.
I suggest editing in additional line-breaks so that the quote is distinguished from your own contribution. (You need at least two ‘enters’ between the end of the quote and the start of your own words.)
Your position on moral realism has a respectable pedigree in moral philosophy, but I don’t think it is parallel to your position on physical realism.
As I understand it, your response to the question “Are there electrons?” is something like:
This is a wrong question. Trying to find the answer doesn’t resolve any actual decision you face.
By contrast, your response to “Is human sacrifice wrong?” is something like:
Not in the sense you mean, because “wrong” in that sense does not exist.
I don’t think there are philosophical reasons why your positions on those two issues should be in parallel, but you seem to think that your positions are in parallel, and it does not look that way to me.
Without a notion of objective underlying reality, shminux had nothing to cash out any moral theory in.
Not quite.
“Are there electrons?” “Yes, electron is an accurate model, though it it has its issues.”
“Does light propagate in ether?” “Aether is not a good model, it fails a number of tests.”
“is human sacrifice an unacceptable behavior in the US today?” “Yes, this model is quite accurate.”
“Is ‘wrong’ independent of the group that defines it?” “No, this model fails a number of tests.”
Seems pretty consistent to me, with all the parallels you want.
You are not using the word “tests” consistently in your examples. For luminiferous aether, test means something like “makes accurate predictions.” Substituting that into your answer to wrong yields:
Which I’m having trouble parsing as an answer to the question. If you don’t mean for that substitution to be sensible, then your parallelism does not seem to hold together.
But in deference to your statement here, I am happy to drop this topic if you’d like me to. It is not my intent to badger you, and you don’t have any obligation to continue a conversation you don’t find enjoyable or productive.
It’s worth noting that most people who make that claim are using a different definition of “wrong” to you.
I suggest editing in additional line-breaks so that the quote is distinguished from your own contribution. (You need at least two ‘enters’ between the end of the quote and the start of your own words.)
Whoops, thanks.