tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post8488107125685062725..comments2023-10-24T04:29:23.693-06:00Comments on Atheist Ethicist: Morality, Reason, and EmotionAlonzo Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-56584576290932568072008-11-27T20:22:00.000-07:002008-11-27T20:22:00.000-07:00Very interesting. The most important point, I agre...Very interesting. The most important point, I agree with: that emotions are not entirely irrational. This is partly because they are always intentional (and unlike feelings such as itchiness in this aspect). That is to say, that hatred (and love, anger, fear etc..) are always <I>of</I> something else. Thus we fear spiders or hate cigarette smoke. We should be able to distinguish therefore between hating the smoke and hating the smoker. Is the emotion against the smoke or the person? In the latter case, clearly there is the moral failing of confusing one aspect of a person with the whole person. Thus when you say. "I hate people who speak loudly into their cell phones while on the bus. I hate it when the person sitting in front of me on the bus puts his seat back" I think that you are not really being accurate (I hope) in the first case, but you are in the second, and this can have a deep impact on the way you choose to react.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-35215060784076735052007-12-05T02:06:00.000-07:002007-12-05T02:06:00.000-07:00your post makes good sense and justly defends the ...your post makes good sense and justly defends the emotion of hate against reason-only moralities. Defending hate per se does, however, come across as rather "uncivilized". Perhaps you need to introduce some atheist/secular version of the christian "hate the sin, not the sinner" or the kantian "never use people only as a means, but always also as an end". <BR/><BR/>Perhaps i am still to christian, but "hate" doesn't seem to be the best emotion to conclude with; in your terminology, hate probably never promotes the fulfillment of your other ends inasmuch as hatred is not a desirable emotion: in my ideal life i wouldn't hate anything or anybody. But then again even the god of the christians goes around hating a lot - though id argue that's his problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com