tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16355954.post44749474326147340..comments2024-03-28T08:57:53.180+00:00Comments on Darwinian Conservatism by Larry Arnhart: Religious Transcendence and Natural EvolutionLarry Arnharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14619785331100785170noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16355954.post-32434447056522854212008-09-07T00:24:00.000+01:002008-09-07T00:24:00.000+01:00Whether the "transcendent conservative" viewpoint ...Whether the "transcendent conservative" viewpoint is theocratic or not, I don't see the need to employ the winner-take-all mentality as an ultimate end. These things always shift on some time scale. It is more about the cultural dominance that allows any belief or religion to provide for an ordered (and prosperous, happy, etc.) society. When that dominance is upset or threatened, as in Islamic societies or in the devalued Christian European tradition, the vagaries of human nature flourish once again.leadpbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08957439101293478340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16355954.post-50939969445690770772008-08-20T04:50:00.000+01:002008-08-20T04:50:00.000+01:00You write about Behe:"But then Behe decides that w...You write about Behe:<BR/><BR/>"But then Behe decides that we cannot know "whether the designer of life was a dope, a demon, or a deity," and after all, "from the bare conclusion of design, I see no necessary major implications for our daily lives." "<BR/><BR/>Of course Behe is going to say this because they want ID to be accepted as a legitimate scientific idea and in order to avoid religious entanglements that have to say that the designer can be any number of things aside from a transcendent god.<BR/><BR/>I wonder if Behe understands the implication of the claim that there are no moral implications in ID for daily life. <BR/><BR/>Doe he not understand that he's really saying that ID is less useful than evolution in dealing with moral questions?<BR/><BR/>Of course from my perspective, ID is useless for anything except as an outmoded prescientific idea.Paul D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00535027161567978343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16355954.post-13944069641249203622008-08-18T21:43:00.000+01:002008-08-18T21:43:00.000+01:00Larry Arnhart wroteHow one should combine and rank...Larry Arnhart wrote<BR/><BR/><I>How one should combine and rank the goods of life requires that each individual exercise prudential judgment in deciding how to arrange and integrate these goods in a way that is appropriate for the contingent and particular circumstances of the individual and for that individual's propensities, abilities, and history. In this view, the end of human life is inclusive of all the human goods, and the ranking of goods will properly differ for different individuals with different forms of life.</I><BR/><BR/>To the contrary, he says, West, <I>et alia</I>, claim that <BR/><BR/><I>According to West, we need some "transcendent standard of morality" rooted in the cosmic order of an intelligent designer or eternal nature. According to Holloway, we need "revealed religion" to provide a transcendent ranking of goods so that we can see one particular form of life as conforming to the cosmic end of all human striving.</I><BR/><BR/>This is essentially a 'one size fits all' view (that of West and Holloway) <I>vs.</I> a pluralist view (Arnhart) that allows for individual differences.<BR/><BR/>When the 'one size fits all' folks argue against the pluralist view, they virtually always do so with a slippery slope argument, saying that to admit individual differences and a pluralist view is tantamount to admitting that there are no real moral standards at all. Their theocratic leanings -- which imply that the one size that fits all is to be imposed on all -- are an expression of their desire to execute that imposition in order to avoid the moral chaos enabled by the pluralist position. After all, if you know (from irrefutable revelation) what's right for everyone, it's only reasonable to require everyone to conform to what you know is right.RBHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13562135000111792590noreply@blogger.com