[lbo-talk] On the Threat from Religion

[Miles Jackson]

Philp Pilkington wrote:
> On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 6:51 AM, Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> wrote:
>
>   
>> How about this: ethics is the social practice of justifying existing
>> patterns of behavior in a society.  (Ethical principles do not "drive"
>> individual behavior and social relations; just the opposite.)
>>
>> Miles
>>
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>> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>>
>>     
>
> As I said above, if you want to be strictly logical about this:
>
> Well, I did say "from a strictly materialistic point of view" (i.e.
> ideas/"ideology" generated from a material base) as I thought that's what
> you were getting at. Actually, I don't think you can logically say which
> "way around" it works, it seems to me to be a dialectical relationship and
> thus beyond the realm of strict cause and effect.
>   
It's not a logical question; it's an empirical one.  There is a 
veritable mountain of social psychological data that supports the claim 
that changes in social conditions and social behavior cause changes in 
attitudes.  Philosophers can engage in strictly logical arguments and 
ponder dialectical relationships about this if they wish, but that won't 
change the data.

Miles