Precisely. Science can tell us that an axe will cut off someone's head. Something else is needed to tell us whether and when it is ethical to do that. That will be morality & this comes from our brains.
And where does that come from if not from something that ultimately reduces to a load of facts?
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But how to you select from the facts the ones that are relevant and you should consider? I thought we already talked about how you have to have a moral system set in place beforehand, in order to select the relevant facts.
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Yes, we have already agreed that and agreed that these are devised using the capacity of brains. What do you think we disagree on?
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Well, I was just saying, from the very beginning that it's not only scientific facts that create our moral values, and they can't do it alone, since you have to have a moral system in place to select among them. Okay?
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Oh god! If you're not going to explain what you mean by this and if it differs from what we've all just agreed is true - that this system comes from brains and the neuroscience explains it - we'll just have to accept there is no disagreement.
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Well, I suppose that, at least between you and I, there's no disagreement. But, look, let's pick up Sam Harris' argument that we can derive our moral values from scientific facts that we know, and we don't need anything else. Here's the problem, and with this I don't agree.
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But where does he say this? He says there are real facts that can be known about the wellbeing and suffering of conscious creatures and he sets this as the bar (values) and he accepts that this all - the suffering/wellbeing, reason & morality - comes from our brains. Like us.
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Oh, no, but he clearly says that we can derive moral values exclusively from scientific facts. Come on. He even tries to ridicule moral philosophy in his book, The Moral Landscape.
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In a different way from what we've just said? That we have innate morality, consistent drives to avoid suffering & achieve wellbeing and that there are real facts we can know about how to do this?
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