ASEBL Journal – Volume 13 Issue 1 , January 2018
This possibility suggests that the occasion on which a sentence is uttered may define the non-morally relevant factors from which we make moral judgments . Perceiving moral properties might then be indistinguishable from perceiving the particulars of an occasion on which a moral judgment is made : if the property is not fixed , and “ flows ” with the changing context , then to perceive a moral property may be to perceive the relevant factors from which a moral judgment is drawn .
If , furthermore , becoming a sensitive moral agent is part of acculturation , can we rightly judge the informer raised under Stalin ’ s reign who denounces those he believes are threats to his way of life ? If these totalitarian beliefs were sufficiently instilled in members of the Soviet State , it seems just as plausible for an informer to rely on the “ infallibility of his soul ” when denouncing others as it does for Tolstoy ’ s Levin when he acts generously towards his serfs .
If everything flows , can a moral property be more than the union of the relevant factors at whatever time a moral judgment is made ?
This argument is of course valid only if we accept the possibility that moral properties are not fixed , and that statements with moral content do not have fixed truth-values . It may nonetheless be a helpful line of thinking for Sparks to consider .
References
1 . Travis , C . 1997 . “ Pragmatics .” In B . Hale and C . Wright eds . A Companion to the Philosophy of Language . Oxford : Blackwell . 2 . Grossman , V . 2011 . Everything Flows . Translated by R . Chandler . London : Vintage Classic .
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Teleological Concepts in Evolutionary Theory Applied to Human-Directed Evolution
James S . Freeman
How will moral sense , as a combination of genetically evolved and conditioned traits and behaviors and culturally evolved and conditioned beliefs , values and practices , respond to the emerging possibilities of advanced technology ? What role can philosophy play in shaping the current debate , and are our present philosophical tools and discourses adequate to the task ? Perhaps it is time to borrow from the recent debates over evolution within the history of science , and re-examine some philosophical views on nature and teleology to see what application they might have to a rapidly changing world . This paper looks specifically to Kant ’ s Critique of Pure Judgment , with its curious pairing of aesthetics and teleology , and the work of William James , primarily Pragmatism and A Pluralistic Universe , to provide non-theistic forms of teleology , fully supportive of evolutionary theory , that can be employed as a framework to discuss and critique current technological projects , which present existential challenges
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