Episode 106 - Good Problems and Necessary Goods

Books Referenced

Science and the Good by Hunter and Nedelisky

“Roughly put, moral laws flowed from the nature of things,” page 28

The ethical theories of the scholastics grounded morality in natural laws, which were alleged to be graspable by consideration of the essence of things – that is, by appreciating the ends to which things were made. Page 32

The resolution is found in the cultural logic they follow. As they would have it, even if there isn’t anything we objectively “ought” to be doing, we still have to decide, on some basis, how to live and what to do. Without any real ethical standards, we look to social objectives as guides. The project, then, it’s about how science and technology can help us achieve these social goals. The role of science is to reveal how our moral psychology and neurochemistry work—or can be put to work—towards achieving those goals.

The problem is that the social objectives are, in the end, morally arbitrary, reflecting either fluctuating social tastes or the whims of those in power. Page 21...

Links and Media Referenced

Episode 139 of the Mindscape Podcast by Sean Carroll  - Elizabeth Anderson on Equality, Work, and Ideology 139 | Elizabeth Anderson on Equality, Work, and Ideology – Sean Carroll (preposterousuniverse.com) March 22, 2021

The Netflix Documentary The Social Dilemma - https://www.netflix.com/watch/81254224

Scriptures Referenced

John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Mark 10:18 - And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.