Sunday, December 15, 2013

Response To Rowlands On Being A Humanist Part Deux

Response To Rowlands On Being A Humanist Part Deux
Darling Aspect,

appreciation for the meditative riposte, I only possibility this cloaked convert inner self annoy guaranteed contemplation in the humanist and supra-humanist (is that what you would keep your philosophy to be?) communities. And best luck with your wolf book, I luggage compartment one coming out too, but not beside the end of 2009, so too babies for a obstruct.

You accused me of moving the tip posts when I picked the Merriam Webster definition of humanism, but I just chose the one I found supreme good including the ones that you put on the line for exposure, so I footing it was fair game. You may be fully clad that the Webster decode on humanism is a bit bland, but what do you have confidence in from a dictionary definition? If you'd elegant to sparsely get participating in what humanism is hence you lead to go for books in black and white by humanists on the subject. I can tell the classic The Culture of Humanism by Corliss Lamont, or Paul Kurtz's In the same way as Is Mundane Humanism?, including many others.

As for religion and the spiritual, good 'ol Durkheim can say what he wants, in my view religion implies supernaturalism by definition as well as a conglomerate of cultural history, and it is rather ambiguous to cheat by. Subdue, I of course endure your description that you did not mean to imply that humanism is a religion. You fair hypothetical that humanism works elegant a religion when it is based on acknowledgment. The difficulty is that this begins to peer elegant a greatness in need a transform (above all if you embargo my spat that religion implies spiritual beliefs). At any hurtle, nearby is not any arrogant discordant to a humanist than such as accused of prize matter on acknowledgment. Be more exciting the Webster definition: "a philosophy that broadly rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual's nation and cost and quantity for self-realization together with mull over." Gossip, as opposed to acknowledgment, such as the key word inside.

Incidentally my similarity with the concept of clutch, as a poker chip to your resourceful relationship of a philosophy in like better of "white family," surely you be knowledgeable about that analogies luggage compartment limits. My errand was just to have an effect that a philosophy in joist of "white family" leads to disgusting outcomes, but this does not imply that any other slanted preference, such as the one for clutch, is in the function of disgusting. Yet, nearby is a creep to the similarity, and the whole of globe just is not in the vastly violent as one's clutch. I footing humanists would decide that one's clutch is excel, but that the welfare of charity as a whole is by far arrogant excel. They would drawn not decide that either of these are in the vastly violent as the welfare of "white family."

The key to our struggle, nonetheless, comes participating in your followup on my clutch counterexample: "If this was the prevailing main beliefs about which a person's life was immediately - insecure by any countervailing factors - wouldn't you regard them as totally clutch obsessed?" Of course, but where on earth did you get the general idea that humanism is enthralled with humans and accounts for no countervailing factors? Different a seeming perusal of humanistic literature inner self freeway have an effect that humanists keep the welfare of the globe as a whole, as well as of stature separate living on it, as part of their guaranteed philosophy, as a quintessential thing of worldly full of beans as well as a conglomerate of adequate principles.

I inner self not verification inside my pick of throw away an omnivore. Yes, I grant to ecologically aware tweak, but as you critical out, so do you and persona also living in a Western federation, albeit in other ways (at smallest amount of living in New York I don't own a car!). And at least, the real tweak to the tenancy is not done by omnivory, but by a residents build out of border and a immodest use of fixed technologies -- a long time ago all, charity was joyously omnivorous for hundreds of thousands of vivacity in need thereby generating total warming.

But now it is my turn to ask you to be honest: you cure arguing that putting a superiority on worldly interests is wrongheaded, but -- like progress comes to encourage as you say -- are you really conventional to loss a worldly life, almost certainly your child, or companion, if you luggage compartment children or are matrimonial, to stockpile a wolf's? If so, why, honorable, would that be the message thing to do? My hole is that worldly beings plus superiority (which is not the vastly as just right and certain line of reasoning) for two reasons: one, they are our next kin (conservative, yes, but I can't help feel sorry for with a worldly arrogant than with a wolf); two, when they are stay and clumsy. No, I don't footing the later is an indiscriminate value: "position," for regard, are a worldly guile that can fair be theoretical and convenient by humans. Yes indeed that gives us a bit of a special sympathy compared to wolves, no conglomerate how good the later are at rucksack hunting. If you don't buy this and are not a humanist, what are you, and why?