Peter Holmes wrote: ↑Sun Aug 16, 2020 11:54 am
Peter Holmes wrote: ↑Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:06 am
No, I don't think it's difficult to understand. I just think you don't understand it.
Searle is trying show how a factual assertion (an 'is') can entail a moral assertion (an 'ought'). But in his example - the act of promising - he claims that the 'ought' - a promise ought to be kept - is, as it were, built-in, included, implied, and so on. So his argument doesn't show that the factual premise entails the moral conclusion. He just asserts that the conclusion is part of the premise. And that begs the question.
If you can't show why my refutation of his argument is incorrect, then just bleating that it is incorrect is useless.
Besides, we can make promises that we ought not to keep, because keeping them is immoral. And that falsifies the premise.
And the claim 'we ought not to make promises that we ought not to keep' isn't a factual assertion. it just expresses an opinion.
It is very obvious for you to jump to conclusion based on your dogmatic view.
You see an evaluative conclusion and because of your dogmatism, hastily jumped to the conclusion it is 'begging the question' which based on flimsy thinking.
As I had stated you
OUGHT to read Searle's full article explaining his argument.
In that paper Searle anticipated the possible objections [yours included] and he provided three, i.e.:
- 1. The charge of begging the question with hidden evaluative elements in 1b.
2. Why Opponents Failed to Understand the existence of Two Tautologies – Three Reasons.
3. Used of oratio oblipua, hence disguised statements of fact - fact/value distinction still exists.
It is so obvious Searle understood basic logic, i.e. it is fallacious and one cannot deduce directly from a descriptive premise to an evaluative conclusion. This is why he did not present the typical 3 line syllogism in this case, but presented his argument within a 15 page paper.
If you note Searle did not jump in stating his P1 plainly as;
Jones made a promise to pay Smith five dollars.
Searle was very specific, i.e. he put it precisely to get to this point;
- (P1) Jones uttered the words "I hereby promise to pay you, Smith, five dollars."
The bolded terms has heavy implication in his argument and the point that what is uttered is in inverted commas.
Nothing evaluative is assumed at this stage of P1.
The sense of obligation is only brought forth in P4
which logically follow into P5 as an evaluative conclusion.
In his paper Searle provided detailed explanation on how he moved from P1 to P2 to P3 to P4 and then how the conclusion is deduced.
PH wrote:Besides, we can make promises that we ought not to keep, because keeping them is immoral. And that falsifies the premise.
Seale had also anticipated and covered this by the
Ceteris Paribus as in Premise 3a
Searle wrote:
- (3) Jones placed himself under (undertook) an obligation to pay Smith five dollars.
(3a) Other things are equal.
We need the
ceteris paribus ="
Other things are equal" clause to eliminate the possibility that something extraneous to the relation of "obligation" to "ought" might interfere.5
The force of the expression "other things being equal" in the present instance is roughly this.
Unless we have some reason that is, unless we are actually prepared to give some reason, for supposing
the obligation is void (step 4)
or the agent ought not to keep the promise (step 5),
then the obligation holds and he ought to keep the promise.
As I had stated, you ought to read Searle's full article to ensure what you are to counter him was not accounted for by Searle.
Searle was not a philosopher God, so he could NOT be omniscient but he had at least presented his argument with very high rigor and serious standards.
What you are sticking to is merely theory using crude semantics which is analogous to a surgeon using a blade to do brain surgery, i.e. not taking the very realistic micro details and nuances into considerations.
What Searle argued for is also carried out in practice within various constitutional institutions without giving a damn F to Hume's Law.
One good example are "ought" [presumably moral] are derived from "is" within criminal laws within the constitution of a parliament, e.g.
"No person ought to killing/murder, else s/he will be punished legally"
I believe 99.999% of people in the World are subject to the above 'ought' given the whole world is covered by sovereign nations which had such laws re killing/murder.
I believe the above legal 'ought' is intuitively derived from the natural inherent moral fact,
"no person ought to kill another"
which I had justified empirically and philosophically.
And the claim 'we ought not to make promises that we ought not to keep' isn't a factual assertion. it just expresses an opinion.
As I have argued countless times, 'ought to keep promises' is the same as,
"no person ought to kill another" is a moral fact
which I had justified empirically and philosophically from a moral FSK,
where all FSK produce their specific facts.