Philosophy Now Forum

Well, it's not an opinion, J. The assertion isn't actually controversial to me, you have an opinion that his premise is unsound and I don't, he clearly failed to convince you (or failed to try) that his premise was true but it is, in fact, an opinion that he failed to create a coherent argument for...

I'm not trying to remove the premises as aspects of his argument, however, you are commenting on the premises as though they are only aspects of his arguments. If you had used the word presumption rather than wish, I would have let it slide, if you insist that what's you meant then I'll treat it as ...

Actually, it is...and not because I say so, but because he is the one who advances the argument in the OP. If he has not established the truth of his premises, the main one of which is that moral judgments are subjective and non-factual, then his conclusion can only be a presumption, not a sound ar...

The onus is not on Peter to show that moral judgements can't be facts, to describe that assertion as a wish is juvenile. It's absurd to say that because one can't prove a negative, that one ought to give credibility to any such ideas that can't be disproven. Equally, he can't disprove the existence ...

Not a bad suggestion, I may need it since I've already seen people here talk about moral relativism as anarchy.

Objective truth as a concept extends beyond the level of perception, we determine fact through intersubjective validation but that isn't always possible. Morality does not exist on the level of perception, it's necessarily subjective if you limit the definition of objective truth as being only evide...

You make some great points RustyBert, I have already dispensed with using the word nihilism in most circumstances due to this problem, even within philosophical circles. "Nihilism" is simply embedded with the interpretation of despair about nihilism for many or most people. Haven't heard o...

Angelo How would you then characterise, subjective distinctions such as the interpretation of behaviour or with regards to morality and so on? Also, for instance, an argument between people about whether i.e defensive vs aggressive play in tennis is superior? There's a huge spectrum of subjectivity ...

Whether emotions have a purpose or not is a subjective distinction and a more interesting question might be about the utility of emotions. Even if we say emotions have a clear-cut reason for existing in an evolutionary sense, I don't think would invalidate any ideas about the purpose of their emotio...

Angelo Cannata In another forum, a member there explained this idea of epistemological and ontological subjectivity, distinctions argued by John Searle. At the time I didn't really believe the distinction was meaningful due to the context of the debate but here's a case where I think it is useful. I...

What do you mean by objectified subjectivity?

Also don't you feel what you are saying only applies to ontological subjectivity? Surely inherently subjective ideas such as interpretations, standards, characterisations and so on, can be shared without any problem?

Hi I am here searching productive conversations about practical things which interest me. I don't have much respect or interest in aspects of philosophy which appear to lack practical utility or necessity. I'd describe myself as a nihilist/moral relativist, I try to use this productively in the many...