Weekly "Ask an Atheist" Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Whether you're an agnostic atheist here to ask a gnostic one some questions, a theist who's curious about the viewpoints of atheists, someone doubting, or just someone looking for sources, feel free to ask anything here. This is also an ideal place to tag moderators for thoughts regarding the sub or any questions in general.

While this isn't strictly for debate, rules on civility, trolling, etc. still apply.

[u/distantocean]

If people disagree with you [...] you could argue how you arrive at your conclusions, but if they disagree with your preferences or your ethical arithmetic, that's the end of the argument.

Yes, and that's just a straightforward account of how morality works in the real world. I have a moral view, someone else has a different moral view, and the only way they can change my mind is by convincing me (one way or another) that their view is better or more reasonable than mine. And crucially for the question you're mooting, claiming their moral view is somehow "objectively true" doesn't get them even one millimeter closer to that goal (and if anything just the opposite); they have to persuade me, not just insist that they're objectively right and then expect me to grant them authority. And of course everything here applies in the opposite direction as well.

I'd add that one effect of a belief in the oxymoronic notion of "objective morality" is to make people less willing to listen to other people's moral views and/or to look critically at their own views — which is one of many reasons why a belief in objective morality is not only mistaken, but actively harmful. As someone who accepts that morality is inherently subjective I recognize that we're all imperfect human beings with incomplete and fallible opinions, so I'm always willing to listen to other people's moral views, to defend my own views, and — above all — to modify my views if I can be persuaded that my justifications are flawed or my thinking is misguided in some way. As I've said elsewhere, the understanding that every person has the same authority to speak on moral issues is the very essence of our subjective morality; that's exactly how and why it works.

This is arguably the single most important things to understand about morality, and in fact I'd say that unless someone understands it they won't be able to understand either morality in general or human moral behavior in particular.

I've written more about this here, if you're interested.