[little jeremiah]

Moral Absolutes Ping - An interesting discussion going on.

Haven't read the whole thread yet.

One question that I have never heard answered to my satisfaction is this:

If we reject the moral absolutes as taught by the religions of the world, where do we find standards of right and wrong? What guide do we use to determine where the line bewteen moral and immoral?

Crickets chirping...*

Let me know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.

*If someone says, "Well, each person has to decide morality and immorality for himself", then I counter with: What about the German homosexual cannibals? They thought consensual cannibalism was a fine thing. Should a society allow this to go on?

Crickets chirping...

[sneakers]

bump

[Sam Cree]

I think it fair to say that Adams was making the opposite point from yours. I love the quote, though.

[Melas]

Too many quotes in debates as it is. Actually, in formal debate, eventually, such quotes and such will become off limits to you as a debater (by the time you get to college for sure), as you're relying on a logically fallacious tactic, that is name arguement ad vericundium.

In a nutshell, given your example, perhaps Adams was correct in his assessment, and perhaps he wasn't. In either event, it's your job in the debate to demonstrate via exposition and example that the idea he put forth is correct. Simply relying on some famous names who happen to share your point of view is essentially meaningless.