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SamHarrisOrg's profile
Sam Harris
Sam Harris
Sam Harris
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@SamHarrisOrg

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Sam HarrisVerified account

@SamHarrisOrg

Author of The End of Faith, The Moral Landscape, Waking Up, and other bestselling books published in over 20 languages. Host of the Waking Up podcast.

samharris.org
Joined February 2010

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    1. Chris Anderson‏Verified account @TEDchris Oct 30

      Chris Anderson Retweeted Sam Harris

      I'm curious what you make of this conversation. It began with Sam's argument that moral values can be derived from science and reason... and then morphed into an intense discussion about how to communicate across religious borders. We have to figure this out, right?https://twitter.com/SamHarrisOrg/status/1057411009474781184 …

      Chris Anderson added,

      Sam HarrisVerified account @SamHarrisOrg
      Really enjoyed speaking with @TEDchris on his new podcast, "The TED Interview." https://samharris.org/podcasts/the-ted-interview/ …
      21 replies 12 retweets 78 likes
    2. Brett Hall‏ @ToKTeacher Oct 30
      Replying to @TEDchris

      I'm looking forward to listening. But here's the argument (using science and reason) that moral values cannot be so "derived" in the way @SamHarrisOrg claims in "The Moral Landscape" nor do they need to be following the arguments made by @DavidDeutschOxfhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kPSI6djlwE&lc=UgxBBLHLgXqw5uordtJ4AaABAg …

      7 replies 7 retweets 31 likes
    3. Nathaniel Paull‏ @nbeecherp Oct 31
      Replying to @ToKTeacher @DavidDeutschOxf and

      I think you miss purpose of landscape analogy. It’s not to provide foundation, but rather direction. In physics eg, one can criticize competing explanations w experiment. But outcomes of competing moral theories (should we spank?) provide no intrinsic reason for preference.

      1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
    4. Brett Hall‏ @ToKTeacher Oct 31
      Replying to @nbeecherp @DavidDeutschOxf and

      The landscape analogy - where there are “maxima” (local or not) is still a problem. As formulated it denies the possibility of progress in certain cases *except* by descent into some valley. As if the universe might “have it in for us”. It doesn’t. http://www.bretthall.org/the-moral-landscape-challenge.html …

      1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
    5. Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Oct 31
      Replying to @ToKTeacher @nbeecherp and

      I've watched the first 15 minutes of your video. Nice job. But I'm not as much of a "foundationalist" as you think. I don't believe that knowledge (moral or otherwise) can be built from the bottom up; it's just that certain intuitions/assumptions trump others...

      3 replies 0 retweets 24 likes
      Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Oct 31
      Replying to @SamHarrisOrg @ToKTeacher and

      These are "foundational" in a weaker sense. As for the landscape analogy—if you say that a higher spot can be reached from where you are, without descent, that's synonymous with saying that you're not yet on a peak. I don't see the problem with that.

      10:36 PM - 31 Oct 2018
      • 27 Likes
      • Evan O'Leary Leon Varkalis Struan Memetic Level Asbjorn Enge ashik panigrahi Mizrob A. Matt White
      4 replies 0 retweets 27 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Oct 31
          Replying to @SamHarrisOrg @ToKTeacher and

          And I never claim that we can know that we are on a peak...

          4 replies 0 retweets 11 likes
        3. Brett Hall‏ @ToKTeacher Oct 31
          Replying to @SamHarrisOrg @nbeecherp and

          So peaks are ontological Platonic ideals in a sense? If so, & something like a placeholder for "attaining absolute moral perfection" (akin to mathematical truth) & climbing towards them is consistent with infinite progress -very well. But in that case, there's identically one. :)

          2 replies 0 retweets 6 likes
        4. Brett Hall‏ @ToKTeacher Oct 31
          Replying to @ToKTeacher @SamHarrisOrg and

          But if a peak is actually reachable - obtainable by fallible humans - then there must be a way of knowing that we're on a peak as well as not. Fallibly as always.

          3 replies 0 retweets 5 likes
        5. Evan O'Leary‏ @EvanOLeary Nov 1
          Replying to @ToKTeacher @SamHarrisOrg and

          Ah, in order for it to be obtainable to arbitrary accuracy we have to be able to detect and correct for the error of being moved off the peak? Then the impossibility of knowing when you're on a peak implies peaks are physically impossible states.

          0 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
        6. End of conversation
        1. New conversation
        2. Lucas Smalldon‏ @reason_wit_me Nov 1
          Replying to @SamHarrisOrg @ToKTeacher and

          The 'worst possible misery for everyone' plays the logical role of a foundation in your theory, which is why you often say the phrase, "That's all I need to get this started". We start with moral problems and theories we already have, not from a kind of self-evident intuition.

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
        3. Nathaniel Paull‏ @nbeecherp Nov 1
          Replying to @reason_wit_me @SamHarrisOrg and

          And when two competing theories are proposed to solve a moral problem, on what basis do you evaluate them?

          2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
        4. Brett Hall‏ @ToKTeacher Nov 1
          Replying to @nbeecherp @reason_wit_me and

          We evaluate using reason. Objective criteria. Always fallible, always subject to new information and liable to errors and improvements. In general it involves criticising both until one remains.

          3 replies 0 retweets 4 likes
        5. Lucas Smalldon‏ @reason_wit_me Nov 1
          Replying to @ToKTeacher @nbeecherp and

          Exactly. And in that same vein, we do it by criticizing both theories *against the conditions of the problem situation* they both aim to address, as well as against the logical and explanatory constraints imposed by all our other best knowledge, seeking contradictions.

          1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
        6. Sam Harris‏Verified account @SamHarrisOrg Nov 1
          Replying to @reason_wit_me @ToKTeacher and

          What do you call an intuition that keeps winning these contests, and about which you have to see a coherent criticism?

          8 replies 1 retweet 14 likes
        7. Brett Hall‏ @ToKTeacher Nov 2
          Replying to @SamHarrisOrg @reason_wit_me and

          What we *call* these things is less important than what they are. You may call it an intuition. Or assumption. I just call that kind of claim “knowledge”. It depends on context. But not possibly a foundation. :)

          4 replies 0 retweets 10 likes
        8. Brett Hall‏ @ToKTeacher Nov 2
          Replying to @ToKTeacher @SamHarrisOrg and

          This calls to mind and old philosophy joke: if you call a horse’s tail a leg, how many legs does it have? . . . . . 4! It has 4. . . You can *call* the tail whatever you like. A horse has 4 legs.

          1 reply 1 retweet 13 likes
        9. Hermes of Reason‏ @hermesofreason Nov 2
          Replying to @ToKTeacher @SamHarrisOrg and

          There’s only one moral imperative from which all others follow: To safeguard the means of error-correction. That entails there being one, infinitely high mountain in the moral landscape - and progress consists of climbing (and creating) it.

          1 reply 1 retweet 5 likes
        10. 4 more replies
        1. A gram of Gramsci‏ @a_thing_to_do Nov 1
          Replying to @SamHarrisOrg @ToKTeacher and

          'Foundational in a weaker sense' -- "is" 'Higher spot' -- "ought" Claiming you can't know you're on a peak but claiming you're in a better or 'higher' position still implies an ought. You can't make that leap.

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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        1. Lone Wolf‏ @lonewolfdion Nov 1
          Replying to @SamHarrisOrg @ToKTeacher and

          Nice to see Sam is putting arguments forward that I conjectured he would when we had this discussion with regards to peak analogy etc.

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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