From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Sat Dec 11 2004 - 14:55:24 GMT
Hi Erin,
> ERIN: Are you saying the question is not about whether universals exist
> or not but the question really is whether they exist outside of context?
> I am not really clear about how absolutism and contextualism goes together
> still---- that is if you believe one can you believe the other ..do
> absolutists argue that there are universals outside context and if so not
> sure how you can you be an absolutist and a contextualist?
Absolute moral laws are meant to apply universally to all ethical
decisions made by men. You can argue, as some have, that moral laws are
contextual in that they apply ONLY to men. Pirsig, however, proposes that
there are universal moral laws that not only apply to everything , but are
the foundation of everything. His basic universal moral absolute is "Some
things are better than others" including things that were around long
before man appeared on the scene.
> Another thing that I am not sure about is when they say something that
> is
> absolute---are there certain aspects absolute or what? That is in Platt's
> 101 book it was defined-- In ethics, the position that there are universal
> ethical standards that apply to all men so what is absolute is to who it
> applies to but that is not what I find objectionable about absolutes it is
> more the time aspect. To really accept the MOQ as provisional, I don't see
> how you accept it as absolute. So maybe there can be some explanation
> about what absolute means or refers to.
It's provisional in the sense that a better metaphysics may come along,
unlikely, but possible..
> To me it seems there may be absolutes when looking at the past but not the
> future.
Well, I'm absolutely certain that I will die have to pay taxes. :-)
Finally, those who say "There are no absolutes" assert an absolute. In the
logic of language, there's no escape. Even those who claim "All is shades
of grey within context" contradict their claim by invoking the absolute
"All."
Best,
Platt
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