wedrifid comments on What is Metaethics? - Less Wrong

31 Post author: lukeprog 25 April 2011 04:53PM

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Comment author: wedrifid 27 April 2011 05:13:51PM 3 points [-]

I think, just like politics, this site should avoid the topic of ethics as much as possible. Most of the "science" of ethics is just post-Christian nonsense. Seriously, read Nietzsche. I don't trust any of this talk about ethics by someone who hasn't read, and understood, Nietzsche.

I reject your appeal to authority or sophistication. I also suggest you are confused about what discussion of metaethics entails.

The 'meta' implies that the discussions of ethics can be separated entirely from normative moralizing and be engaged with as a purely epistemic challenge. This is not to say that people don't throw their own moralizing into the conversation incessantly but that is a mix of confusion and bias on the part of the individual and not intrinsic to the subject.

It is useful to be able to describe precisely what people mean when they make ethical judgments and even what the associated words mean and how they relate to intuitions.

Comment author: torekp 27 April 2011 10:43:07PM *  1 point [-]

The 'meta' implies that the discussions of ethics can be separated entirely from normative moralizing

If the meta in metaethics meant that, I'd say it's impossible, for roughly these reasons.

Comment author: Sniffnoy 28 April 2011 01:18:00AM 2 points [-]

These links don't work.

Comment author: torekp 28 April 2011 01:31:07AM 1 point [-]

Thanks; fixed. Back to school for me on mouseover text.