> I admit my bias approaching this video is that I do not see logic as truth in itself: reasoning is a means for framing arguments & defining a model for truth. Increasingly, I am also skeptical of preferring logic divorced from emotional reactions people can feel on a visceral level. Intellectual discipline can temper the allure of prejudice & fallacy, but the normative concerns of emotion & empathy can also provide context for the logical consequences of our modus operandi. After all, normative notions of justice & fairness should really carry weight, even if their definitions are in continual flux. In this animated (figuratively AND literally speaking) Socratic debate btwn philosopher Rebecca Goldstein & her husband – psychologist Steven Pinker (!!!) – Goldstein argues that reason – as opposed to emotions & empathy which imbue us with humanity – is actually the key driver of ethical progress, even if its effect sometimes takes generations to unfold. Hwvr, it seems Goldstein doesnt seem to suggest that humans / sentient beings merely be slaves to reason, but that reason can still be used as a tool for framing arguments & defining a model for truth, even if that means accomodating normative concerns which stand out so much more when reason exposes logical inconsistencies in how we define humanity.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 23:13:05 +0000
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