Much more with Jeffrey Jay Lowder! This time we get even deeper into the arguments, and I get to try out a couple of thoughts I’ve been having on Jeff. It was a real treat to have an expert on to be able to bounce some ideas off of. This is of course in addition to the vast amount of knowledge Jeffrey lays on us this episode!
Find Jeff at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/secularoutpost/
or on twitter @SecularOutpost
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Hi Thomas I want to comment on your points regarding premise two. First of all I agree Craig never gives a good reason to believe that morality is objective. Appealing to intuition might appeal to audiences, but we know our intuition is extremely unreliable, Perhaps the best way to respond to that appeal to emotion, which it essentially is, would be to give examples of how our intuition fails us, and why it’s unreliable.
Now if you want to argue for something akin to objective morality based on evolution you start with the fact that all life’s existence is based on a “desire” to live, and reproduce. If you exist you are part of a bloodline that has managed to do so for nearly 4 billion years, So we can say it’s objective true that life exists for that purpose, and there are objectively true ways for a species to best achieve that purpose, Now I’m not saying these objectively true methods are morally “good”. but if we were all knowing we could calculate how best to achieve that goal.
Forgot what I wanted to ass to paragraph one. As you pointed out. Craig will say something like we know morality objective because we all know that killing babies for fun is wrong. BUT then he’s as you said essentially say just because we all agree that killing babies for fun is wrong it doesn’t mean that it objectively is. So he wants you to use your intuition to support his argument, but then wants you to ignore your intuition. He wants to have his cake and eat it too. Of course the reason he says that is because, for example, people might start thinking homosxuality is OK because our intuition tells them so.
Sorry for all the typos, typing in the dark while the wifes trying to sleep. I wanted to add one last thing. I’m not real sure Jeffrey Lowder got your point on the intuition thing.
I agree. I’m glad you got what I was trying to say!