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TheOtherDave comments on Privileging the Question - Less Wrong
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Quite a few of them no doubt. Of course, the overwhelming majority of people who would say that burning the Quran or the Bible is inherently immoral would also say that it's immoral by virtue of the preferences of an entity that, on their view, is in fact capable of having preferences.
Of course, I'm sure I could find someone who would say rocks have feelings, values, and preferences.
I don't think this is an accurate formulation of the general religious attitude towards morality.
I agree. Do you also think it's a false statement?
Let's just say the expression "it's immoral by virtue of the preferences of an entity" is not actually a good 'translation' of the phrase they'd use.
Um... well, I'm not really sure what to do with that statement, but I'm happy to leave the topic there if you prefer.
Ok, maybe I misunderstood your question in the grandparent. Which statement was it referring to?
"the overwhelming majority of people who would say that burning the Quran or the Bible is inherently immoral would also say that it's immoral by virtue of the preferences of an entity that, on their view, is in fact capable of having preferences."
They'd phrase it in terms of sacredness, which isn't quite the same thing, e.g., how would you apply your argument to flag burning?
Fair enough.
Conversationalists will want to preserve ecosystems, even where those ecosystems are already well studied by science, even when the ecosystem contains no sentient beings (plants, fungi, microbes), even when destroying the ecosystem has many advantages for humans, because they think the ecosystem is intrinsically valuable independently of the effect on beings with feelings, values, and preferences.
Some looser examples...
Pro-life advocates say that beings without preferences have rights by virtue of future preferences. Not all of them are religious.
Hindus treat books (all books in general) with reverence because they are vehicles of learning, despite not necessarily believing in deities.
Many social conservatives report being unwilling to slap their fathers, even with permission, as part of a play.
The classic trolley problem implies that many people's moral intuitions hinge on the act of murder being wrong, rather than the effect that the death has on the values, feelings, and preferences being morally wrong.
Of course, if you are a moral realist, you can just say that these people's intuitions are "wrong"...but the point is that "feelings, values, and preferences" - in a word, utilitarianism - isn't the only guiding moral principle that humans care about.
And yes, you could argue that this is all a deity's preferences...but why did they decide that those were in fact the deity's preferences? Doesn't it hint that they might have an underlying feeling of those preferences in themselves, that they would project those wishes on a deity?
No doubt some of them will, but I suspect you meant "conservationists." And yes, I agree that some of those will assign intrinsic value to "nature" in various forms, or at least claim to, as you describe.
Some of them do, yes. Indeed, I suspect the ones who say that are disproportionately non-religious.
A fine question.
That's one possibility, yes.
And, again, if destroying entity X is wrong because some other entity Y says so, that is not inherent.
Indeed. Do you mean to say that you don't expect it to be said, or merely that those saying it are confused?
The latter.