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Assume (for this question) that there is no God.  Since mindless evolution produced humans, humans are no more special than are other sentient animals. To claim–as Kant and Aristotle did–that the capacity to reason in humans should distinguish them as the most valuable animals on the planet is question-begging.  Of course, humans would pick this unique trait in which to ground our value.  But why not choose speed (cheetah) or the ability to swim under water (sharks) or to survive a nuclear winter (cockroaches).  All animals have some unique feature to them that would distinguish themselves from other species.  Picking RATIONALITY is arbitrary and simply favors humans.  No animal on the planet earned value – all animals came from the same mindless, non-rational process–naturalistic evolution.  To claim that humans are unique and deserve special consideration is to be a proponent of SPECIESISM!  Discrimination against other species for no solid metaphysical reason. . Which famous atheist held to the above sentiments? (Presentation) Last Update: 2 February 2015

Which is NOT a form of alienation for Marx?

“The cruelty of atheism is hard to believe when man has no faith in the reward of good or the punishment of evil. There is no reason to be human. There is no restraint from the depths of evil which is in man. The Communist torturers often said, ‘There is no God, no hereafter, no punishment for evil. We can do what we wish.’ I have heard one torturer even say, ‘I thank God, in whom I don’t believe, that I have lived to this hour when I can express all the evil in my heart.’ He expressed it in unbelievable brutality and torture inflected on prisoners.”    . This example (from one tortured by Communists in Romania during the Cold War) was given in the presentation to illustrate what? (Presentation)

If 51% of an Islamist (political Islamic) culture thinks it is morally correct to execute adulterous women, people who engage in same-sex sexual activity, and practice FGM, then people who adhere to this form of moral relativism say it is morally right for members of this culture to encourage FGM in young girls, execute adulterers and execute people who engage in same-sex sexual activity.  

DISCOVERING NATURAL LAW THEORY OR OBJECTIONS TO IT:  . “The principles on which we engaged, of which the charter of our independence is the record, were sanctioned by the laws of our being, and we but obeyed them in pursuing undeviatingly the course they called for. It issued finally in that inestimable state of freedom which alone can ensure to man the enjoyment of his equal rights.” –Thomas Jefferson to Georgetown Republicans, 1809. ME 16:349   “Man [is] a rational animal, endowed by nature with rights and with an innate sense of justice.” –Thomas Jefferson to William Johnson, 1823. ME 15:441  . “A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.” –Thomas Jefferson: Rights of British America, 1774. ME 1:209, Papers 1:134  . “Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every one comes into the world with a right to his own person, which includes the liberty of moving and using it at his own will. This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the Author of nature, because necessary for his own sustenance.” –Thomas Jefferson: Legal Argument, 1770. FE 1:376  . “Nothing… is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man.” –Thomas Jefferson to John Cartwright, 1824. ME 16:48  . “The evidence of [the] natural right [of expatriation], like that of our right to life, liberty, the use of our faculties, the pursuit of happiness, is not left to the feeble and sophistical investigations of reason, but is impressed on the sense of every man. We do not claim these under the charters of kings or legislators, but under the King of Kings.” –Thomas Jefferson to John Manners, 1817. ME 15:124 Φ From the evidence above it is clear that the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson was a _______________. 

____________________________ is the view that morality is a fiction and that there are no existing valid moral principles. It also holds that moral properties such as good and evil or right and wrong have never appeared at any time in the history of the universe. 

“. . . If God does not exist, we find no values or commands to turn to which legitimize our conduct.  So, in the bright realm of values, we have no excuse behind us, nor justification before us.  We are alone, with no excuses.” . Which famous atheist said this? (Presentation) Last Update: 8 February 2011

This objection against cultural (ethical) relativism states that it is notoriously difficult to define the boundaries of a culture or society. Should it include the West (Western Europe and North America), or should it include each state in the U.S.A.?  What about little isolated cultures within the boundaries of the state (e.g. Amish)?   Maybe we should define cultures by city limits (e.g. Cincinnati).  But, some neighborhoods might be weird and want their own moral autonomy.  So, let’s draw the boundaries around neighborhoods.  But what if a guy has a big house and land in the neighborhood and wants to make his culture where his property ends?    You get the point.   What is this objection called?

The view that holds that there are no universally valid moral principles, but rather all moral principles are based on what humans believe (i.e., valid relative to culture, what Party leaders decide, or individual choice (about sex, love, marriage, or anything else)) is which of the following?

Deconstruction:  Ignoring a person’s rational, philosophical arguments for believing that p, and attributing non-rational/psychological causes for a person’s belief that p (E.g. p = God exists.) . Karl Marx believed that there was no God and that people believed in God because __________________________.   It is the “opium of the people.”