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Tue 13 Oct, 2015 06:49 pm
Does "radical justification leveled by the moral skeptic" mean "radical justification torn down by the moral skeptic"?
Context:
I think our concern for well-being is even less in need of justification than our
concern for health is-as health is merely one of its many facets. And once we begin thinking seriously about human well-being, we will find that science can resolve specific questions about morality and human values, even while our conception of well-being evolves.
It is essential to see that the demand for radical justification leveled by the moral skeptic could not be met by any branch of science. Science is defined with reference to the goal of understanding the processes at work in the universe. Can we justify this goal
scientifically? Of course not. Does this make science itself unscientific? If so, we appear to have pulled ourselves down by our bootstraps.
-Sam Harris
Plus, does " pulled ourselves down by our bootstraps" mean "pulled ourselves down by our own strength"?
@oristarA,
No. "Leveled" here means, to direct emphatically or forcefully toward someone. What is being leveled is demand.
@oristarA,
It's a play on the idiom, "to pull oneself up by the bootstraps," meaning to succeed or progress by one's own efforts.
@oristarA,
It is essential to see that the demand for radical justification leveled by the moral skeptic could not be met by any branch of science
URL:
http://able2know.org/topic/297162-1#post-6047382
The demand for radical justification is being aimed at science.
@dlowan,
dlowan wrote:
It is essential to see that the demand for radical justification leveled by the moral skeptic could not be met by any branch of science
URL:
http://able2know.org/topic/297162-1#post-6047382
The demand for radical justification is being aimed at science.
And any branch of science cannot satisfy this demand?
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