robinrohan writes:
What I want to address is the following: I'm talking to all these very knowledgable people and they are blythely telling me that my mind is physical, and that my morality is subjective, and that I have no free will, and I am wondering if tney understand the philosophical implications of what they are saying.
Not sure if you are talking to me or not. I'm very knowledgeable... check. I think the mind is physical... check. (The word I use is "emergent".) I think morality is subjective... check. (I put it thus; morality is a human concern, but it is not wholly subjective in the sense of being chosen randomly. What works morally is constrained by our human nature. Some things lead to cohesion and good will and well being; others don't. The choice to value cohesion and good will and well being is a human choice; but we do have a natural propensity to value others, which is emergent from out physical biology.)
But I do think we have free will. This depends on what you mean by the term. My position seems to be close to
Compatibilist philosophy. The link goes to an introduction from the Stanford Dictionary of Philosophy.
In any case, the answer to your question is roughly "yes". I have a reasonable notion of the philosophical implications of what I am saying.
robinrohan writes:
They don't seem to understand that what they are saying is that we are mindless robots, living meaningless lives. I hope they understand that, and I hope they understand that they cannot with any consistency be insisting on moral imperatives of any sort.
Not a good start. You are setting as a premise of discussion that you are correct, and reflecting on why others fail to recognize your insights. It's a burden you'll have to live with, unless you make a far better attempt to deal with views you do not share.
No, I am not saying we are mindless robots. Saying that the mind is physical is not the same as saying there is no mind. Your connection with "meaning" is unclear.
One can make objective observations relating to morality, but one cannot make a comprehensive objective account of all moral principles.
I do not want to hear about your relative moralities, because, logically, they do not work. Anybody who looks at the question honestly will realize that. I do not want to hear that somehow our lives are meaningful if we are nothing but physical processes.
Therefore, we should all be nihilists--like me.
OK, you don't want to hear it. Then why are you posting in a discussion board?
For the record "Therefore" would read better if it followed from some kind of actual argument; not a mishmash of blanket assertions and explicit refusal to even listen to any alternatives.
Cheers -- Sylas