flink@umcp-cs.UUCP (05/26/84)
Let me begin by stating that I am a "mild" agnostic; i.e. I am not sure whether it can be known whether God exists. (A hard-line agnostic believes nobody can know whether God exists.) I don't trust the term "humanist", it seems to be twisted too many ways to have much meaning at all. So I won't accept being called one. Bob Brown proposes the word "materialist" to describe certain views he doesn't like: materialists "believe [that] that which is sensible with the usual five plus the mind is all that there is in the Universe." I'm not sure I completely accept a materialist viewpoint, but I sympathize with it, so here goes. >>Question #1) Since man is purely a product of his genes and his >> environment, on what basis is the statement >> "I ought..." distinguishable from "I itch.." ? Easy. "I ought" refers to reason and experience; "I itch", to desire. >>Question #2) Following that line, how can responsibility for >> personal behavior be assigned to anyone since >> he or she is not really in a position to control >> their genetic make-up (right now anyway) ? If you are worried about the compatibility between determinism and freedom, consult the philosophical literature. Chin-Tai Kim, a philosopher at Case Western Reserve University, does a good job of showing that this old bugaboo is a pseudo-problem. (See "Norms and Freedom", *Philosophical Forum* 198(3?).) Anyway, I don't see how materialism implies determinism. Questions 3 & 5 need no answer because, as pointed out by David Dyer-Bennet, they are based on dubious assumptions about "humanism" or materialism and what these views involve. >>Question #4) Is there a need for the designations good and evil >> (I think Rich Rosen dealt with this) and do they >> have any meaning in this worldview ? (In light >> of Questions 1 and 2 ) Materialists (as defined by Brown) differ on this one. I personally think these concepts are required. If you are worried about determinism "vs." moral responsibility, then I recommend Kim's article, again. The aspiring iconoclast is back! --Paul Torek, umcp-cs!flink