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Moral Judgments, Moral beliefs and Logical Rules

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We've been having some trouble figuring out how we arrive at moral
judgments. Cultural Relativism, Supernaturalism, Intuitionism, Rationalism.
all seem to have their good points, but also their undermining bad points.
Then what do you say to picking out our moral principles by trying to be
informed and imaginative, and then seeing what we can consistently hold?
Even if our moral beliefs can't be provable from facts, perhaps we could
take the positions that "we ought to do this" as a universalizable
prescription, and then add: "Do this and let everyone do the same in
similar cases."

Agree? Disagree? Why?

And then consider logical "rules" that might go along with this position?
For instance, we must be logically consistent, right? To be so, must we not
make similar evaluations about similar cases? And also, to be do so, must
we not keep our moral beliefs in harmony with how we live and want others to
live? Do any others come to mind?

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Solution Summary

This solution discusses how a person derives at moral judgments using various theories, such as "we ought to do this" as a universalizable prescription, and then add: "Do this and let everyone do the same in similar cases." It then discusses logical "rules" that might go along with this position.

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Hi,

Excellent debate questions! Let's take a closer look.

RESPONSE:

1. We've been having some trouble figuring out how we arrive at moral judgments. Cultural Relativism, Supernaturalism, Intuitionism, Rationalism all seem to have their good points, but also their undermining bad points. Then what do you say to picking out our moral principles by trying to be informed and imaginative, and then seeing what we can consistently hold? Even if our moral beliefs can't be provable from facts, perhaps we could take the positions that "we ought to do this" as a universalizable prescription, and then add: "Do this and let everyone do the same in similar cases." Agree? Disagree? Why?

Have you given this some thought? Let's disagree as a case in point.

In theory, this might work. However, even though research has found certain values to be universal, there are still individual differences to account for in every culture. How would we make people behave in a universally accepted way? I guess that is where laws come into play. In fact, our present laws are in fact, at least some of them, are universal in prescription, such as it I wrong to murder someone. However, there are differences across cultures in terms of exceptions to the rule or a law. For ...

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