Michael Walzer: Has scientific progress changed your understanding of morality?
- 6 years ago
Walzer says it hasn't.
Michael Walzer: I don't think so, no, because when I read the moral arguments that went on in ancient Greece or in ancient Israel, they don't seem all that different. I'm not sure this is a realm in which progress--there is certainly nothing like linear progress from ancient times to modern times on any moral issue. There are ups and downs. Sometimes we get it right; sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes we get it wrong for a long time, and then suddenly someone comes along and gets it right. I don't, I know there are the neurologists who are trying to locate morality in the brain but--and I know nothing about the geography of the brain--but I am doubtful that the arguments are going to change. Recorded on: 2/27/08
Michael Walzer: I don't think so, no, because when I read the moral arguments that went on in ancient Greece or in ancient Israel, they don't seem all that different. I'm not sure this is a realm in which progress--there is certainly nothing like linear progress from ancient times to modern times on any moral issue. There are ups and downs. Sometimes we get it right; sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes we get it wrong for a long time, and then suddenly someone comes along and gets it right. I don't, I know there are the neurologists who are trying to locate morality in the brain but--and I know nothing about the geography of the brain--but I am doubtful that the arguments are going to change. Recorded on: 2/27/08
Michael Walzer: I don't think so, no, because when I read the moral arguments that went on in ancient Greece or in ancient Israel, they don't seem all that different. I'm not sure this is a realm in which progress--there is certainly nothing like linear progress from ancient times to modern times on any moral issue. There are ups and downs. Sometimes we get it right; sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes we get it wrong for a long time, and then suddenly someone comes along and gets it right. I don't, I know there are the neurologists who are trying to locate morality in the brain but--and I know nothing about the geography of the brain--but I am doubtful that the arguments are going to change. Recorded on: 2/27/08
Michael Walzer: I don't think so, no, because when I read the moral arguments that went on in ancient Greece or in ancient Israel, they don't seem all that different. I'm not sure this is a realm in which progress--there is certainly nothing like linear progress from ancient times to modern times on any moral issue. There are ups and downs. Sometimes we get it right; sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes we get it wrong for a long time, and then suddenly someone comes along and gets it right. I don't, I know there are the neurologists who are trying to locate morality in the brain but--and I know nothing about the geography of the brain--but I am doubtful that the arguments are going to change. Recorded on: 2/27/08