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Sam Harris: Science Can Answer Moral Questions Analysis Harris brings us many points and views in his TED talk. Though there are some ideas I must agree with, I do not agree with his overall ideology that he is presenting. He persuades the audience by using reason and logic. His main thesis was near the beginning of the video. He states that, “The separation between science and human values is an illusion,” adding that moral choices are decisions made solely upon facts. Science in my opinion can articulate to us what is, not simply what it ought to be. Some values cannot be purely drawn from facts. Facts convey to us a piece of information that is objective, or express to us something known to be true. While values allow us to interpret, internalize, …show more content…
An example would be the bombing of Hiroshima. The morality was good in a way that it prevented millions of lives being saved, but at the cost of thousand of Japanese people dying. The more facts and information we have about the world around us that are scholarly and valid, the better we can make more rational and calm decisions. Therefore, science should guide our morality to some extent because it allows us to evaluate different kinds of ethical choices that are needed, and disregard those that are faulty. For example, say that we want our children to grow into healthy and mature adults. The best course of action to do so is to invest in research in nutrition. To see what foods, vitamins, and drinks stimulate and maximize a child’s growth and health overall. Such a method would require us to gather and expand the area of nutrition scientifically. However, this is where Harris fails to draw the line, especially with ethics. I believe that science cannot define ethics. At the core of Harris’ ideology, he simply assumes science can help assist and apply …show more content…
The notion of “do not lose your Queen” is something to always consider when playing the game. Harris notes that sometimes, the best move to make is to forfeit the Queen. For this example, the main idea he is trying to convey is that there are sometimes exceptions to the rule, even in morality. However, this example may not be the best to use (weakening his argument). He infers what he believes and definite what is ‘good’ in the game of chess. Consequently, insinuating the definition of morals. However, if you defined the term ‘moral,’ it is based on what a person’s standard of behavior is or belief regarding what is acceptable to them. The best analogy in his speech is how we perceive primates, insects and rocks. We give primates more moral recognition and more ethical obligations than the other domains (insects and rocks). This is a factual claim that primates experience a wider range of emotion than insects and rocks, such as happiness and sadness. We treat them differently because they are more similar to us and we can empathize with those exact emotions. If there was new evidence indicating that insects and rocks can feel the same range of feelings, then that would change our moral views of the said
In “Toward a Universal Ethics,” written by Michael Gazzaniga, a question is posed to coax his audience toward a science based ethics. “The question is, Do we have an innate moral sense as a species, and if so, can we recognize and accept it on it’s own terms? It is not a good idea to kill because it is not a good idea to kill, not because God or Allah or Buddha said it was not a good idea to kill.”(Gazzaniga, 420 para. 6). Gazzaniga answers the question for us, but he was wrong to assume that the brain’s systematic response to moral situations means that science should dictate ethics and morality. Instead, ethics and morality should be considered a part of humanity, which is influenced and balanced by many things including science, religion, and individual
In the article,"An Atheist Manifesto," by Sam Harris he discusses how God does not exisit because if he did exist there would not be any evil in this world. As I was reading this article I found it very intresting how Harris is so negative and believes that everything that happens is God's fault. "....at this very moment that an all-powerful and all-loving God is watching over them and their family. Are they right to believe this? Is it good that they believe this?No,.." stated Harris. He should understand that God gave us a gift called "free will," and with that gift it comes with a price that we should live with the consequeces by the descisions we make as human beings. I liked this article because it showed me the other side of the coin
...o die, everything is growing farther and farther apart toward a state of decay; and as it goes, so goes hope, so goes man’s faith in what he can see, think, and reason. This is the hard reality that becomes apparent; if ethical action is limited to man’s thought about morals and principles that are, according to man, “absolute”, then man may be the most arrogant and ignorant of God’s creation.
morality; science tells us how to do things, not what things are worth doing and
Initially, The book “The Moral Arch” by Michael Shermer talks about as technology advances that we all become more moral to each other. I agree that as we become more technological, we become more moral in majority life, especially when it comes to capital punishment, violent crimes, religion, freedom, and democracy. We can see it through our history during the industrial revolution era, and through our generation today. Science will continue to make us more moral about our daily activities.
Morality is making the distinction between doing what is beneficial or doing what is detrimental. Everything in this world is connected and depends on a sense of morality. “We care for people, billions of organisms, and myriads of habitats they support, because we now appreciate that we draw our life from each other, and that we are all mutually implicated in each other’s fate” (Wirzba 88). Our lives are ultimately connected with the state and well-being of other individuals. We discern the fate of ourselves when we care about the fate of others. If we choose to disregard the needs of our settings, we are living immorally in regard to our surroundings and ourselves.
Morality binds people into groups. It gives us tribalism; it gives us genocide, war, and politics. But it also gives us heroism, altruism, and sainthood (“Jonathan Haidt Quotes.”). This quote sums the importance of morality perfectly. Even though morality may not be beneficial when the lives of the many out way the lives of the few or if it endangers your own well-being, we have an obligation to understand the morality of different people whether it’s socially, culturally, or religiously. When we fail to take into account these difference we breed conflict and eventually war.
The ultimate problem is that people’s perceptions are so skewed. We tend to believe that it is bad to harm others and good to help them, which is right but limiting your judgment of one’s morality based on this is not very effective. We tend to believe in reciprocity, the idea that when someone does something good we expect something back. Instead of relying on getting something back, why not juts do good to be good. We value loyalty to a group we believe in such as religion, which we also see as an authority. We get so hooked to what is accepted by the authority that we just end up following whatever it is deemed to be right or good by them. There is no formula for morality. We have to understand that morality is a mere trick of the brain and can be influenced by many factors.
In the article, “What Science Tells Us About Good and Evil” states that “ Other studies have measured callousness and lack of emotional expression in adolescents using questions like whether the subject feels guilty upon doing something wrong”, I was quite surprised with this statement. I feel like teens would be the more emotional ones especially going through hormones they definitely don't lack emotions. It is actually surprising that studies show that because I don't think that would be true depending on teens attitudes it's not so believable for me, but on the other hand they are not normal teens if they are doing evil acts. There must be something psychologically wrong with them. I don’t think that kids can just be born psychopaths I
The intrinsic value that science adds to human’s lives can not be objectively measured but no one can doubt that science has made life as a human much easier over the course of our history as a species. What is science one might ask, and though science is basic and all humans practice it, the answer to that question is both simple and complex. Einstein defines science in his famous essay “Science and Religion” as “the century-old endeavor to bring together by means of systematic thought
The term ‘scientific literacy’ has eluded precise definition ever since it was coined in 1958. That year, in light of the astonishing swift advancements made by mid-century scientists (e.g. the splitting of the atom, space exploration), three publications appeared that made reference to scientific literacy: a report by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which called for a larger technically trained workforce to safeguard our economic and military strength, and a more scientifically literate public able to execute civic responsibilities intelligently; a publication from Paul Hurd and colleagues at Stanford University that exhorted curricula leaders to develop pedagogies that promoted both the cultural and practical aspects of science; and a published address by the president of Shell Chemical Corporation, who called for new curricula emphasizing the fundamentals of science, its history, and its significance for active citizenship and everyday life (see DeBoer, 2000 for review). As DeBoer (2000) noted, however, all three publications used broad brushstrokes to define scientific literacy, thus shrouding the term in ambiguity. Indeed, when asked how they interpreted “scientific literacy,” scientists and science educators had disparate notions about the role content knowledge and a broader understanding of the nature of science had in developing a scientifically literate student (DeBoer, 2000). If nothing else, this example underscores the need for clear definitions and fully articulated curricular goals. To this end, educators have spent several decades making sense of the conceptual spectrum of scientific literacy, resulting in the dissection of scientific literacy into the following sub-genres: pra...
For instance, greed is a great example of a corrupted morality. Ichabod Crane, the main character in the “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a victim of this greed. “He was satisfied with his wealth, but not proud of it; and piqued himself upon the hearty abundance, rather than the style in which he lived” (Irving 143). He had a lot, perhaps more than he actually needed, but instead of being satisfied with it, he sought more. In order to obtain more wealth, he planned to take advantage of Katrina Van Tassel, a beautiful girl with a rich father.
Science teaches us about the deepest issues of origins, natures, and fates-of our species, life, our planet, of the universe. Science confers power on anyone who takes the trouble to learn it. Science is a way to call against mysticism, superstition and misapplied religions. Science, I maintain, is an absolutely essential tool for any society with a hope of surviving well into the next century with its fundamental values intact, not just science as engaged in by its practitioners, but science understood and embraced by the entire human community: and if scientists will not bring this about, who will?
Those who maintain the insufficiency of science, as we have seen in the last two chapters, appeal to the fact that science has nothing to say about "values." This I admit; but when it is inferred that ethics contains truths which cannot be proved or disproved by science, I disagree. The matter is one on which it is not altogether easy to think clearly, and my own views on it are quite different from what they were thirty years ago. But it is necessary to be clear about it if we are to appraise such arguments as those in support of Cosmic Purpose. As there is no consensus of opinion about ethics, it must be understood that what follows is my personal belief, not the dictum of science.
Science plays a huge role in our everyday life. Science could be a good thing and a bad thing. When people hear the word science they first think of experiments, predictions, and so on. Scientists are influenced by many different types of bias. One particular bias that is influenced by science today is greed and this can be shown in the presentation, “Designer Babies,” the show Penn and Teller and Francis Bacon’s Idol of the Marketplace.