Brent meeker writes:> > > Also Stathis wrote:> > > > Sure, logic and science are silent on the question of the value> > of weeds or anything else. You need a person to come along and say> > "let x=good", and then you can reason logically given this.> > Evolutionary theory etc. may predict what x a person may deem to be> > good or beautiful, but this is not binding on an individual in the> > way laws governing the chemistry of respiration, for example, are> > binding. > > True. But evolution does predict that an individual of an evolved species will have values, will find some things good and some bad, and further that, with high probability, these values will comport with reproductive success. You could for example fairly easily distinguish a race of robots who were engineered to serve human beings (angels?) from an evolved race of robots simply by their behavior and implied values. > > The former do have lives with meaning - their purposes refer outside themselves. The later have their own purposes. I'm content to be one of the latter.> > Brent MeekerI don't know that the purpose supposed to be provided by God is as coherent as your robot example. As I understand it, God did not program us to be good or to believe in him because he wanted us to arrive at the "right" answer freely. However, he must have programmed us to an extent, because our values are at least partly the result of evolution, as you suggest. What formula he used to set how much of our values would be determined and how much free is not clear. Stathis Papaioannou
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Received on Tue Feb 06 2007 - 20:23:20 PST