Thursday, May 19, 2016

Striking At Hume

I had a professor once, who described how thought starts out with philosophy, then spreads geographically, socially, and from one discipline to another. Finally it reaches theology. It is interesting, in this light, to read Michael Fridjhon, a leading wine expert, on South African culture:
It is abundantly clear – from the lack of embarrassment (let alone the lack of accountability) that accompanies incontrovertible evidence of dishonesty – that there has been a change of culture, one in which lying, together with avarice and corruption, are not qualities which provoke a sense of shame (see Ashamedly South African).
Is this very South African tragedy the result of political decay? Or is it philosophy which has finally come home to roost? Or both? OBSERVATION: A core focus of my own Society metaphysic is the loss of a philosophical basis for ethics. All over the world, we have lost our compass. In philosophical terms, it is value which has come adrift from fact (called Hume's Law). Fridjhon says it is wine deceitfully mixed with water. So? "Water is perfectly harmless" is the new view. While preachers do their work from their pulpits (and so do I), I strike at the heart of Hume.

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