Sam Harris podcast

More Than Mortal · April 29, 2015, 01:17:54 PM

Sam Harris recently released a podcast (an AMA to be specfic) in which he discusses atheism, artificial intelligence, rape, public speaking, meditation, consciousness, free will, intellectual honesty and other stuff.

Pretty interesting, so I dropped it here.

Turkey · April 29, 2015, 01:35:22 PM

I don't particularly agree with Harris' philosophy, but I might check it out. I've been meaning to read End of Faith.

More Than Mortal · April 29, 2015, 01:44:13 PM

Quote from: HurtfulTurkey on April 29, 2015, 01:35:22 PM

I don't particularly agree with Harris' philosophy, but I might check it out. I've been meaning to read End of Faith.

The Moral Landscape is a good book outlining his "science of morality".

The Lord Slide Rule · April 29, 2015, 04:31:24 PM

He's got some pretty interesting views but his soft spot for Buddhism is a bit strange. Wonder what his views on scientific research into meditation has shown that it doesn't always promote well being and can even worsen clinical depression, which is unsurprising to me.

I'm also entirely unsure about his views about morality. . .as in I'm not sure exactly what they are and how he reaches the conclusion that metaethical judgements can be reached objectively.

More Than Mortal · April 29, 2015, 04:33:44 PM

Quote from: SexyBarracuda on April 29, 2015, 04:31:24 PM

I'm not sure exactly what they are and how he reaches the conclusion that metaethical judgements can be reached objectively.

Ethical naturalism.

P1: Ethical sentences express propositions.
P2: Some such ethical sentences are true.
P3: These ethical sentences are made true by objective features of the world.
P4: These objective moral features can be reduced to non-moral features.
C: Morality is objective.