“Shortly after, Mr. Weston came over with some of the fishermen, under another name, and the disguise of a blacksmith, where he heard of the ruin and dissolution of his colony...so uncertain are the mutable things of this unstable world. And yet men set their hearts upon them, though they daily see the vanity thereof.” – William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Moral Argument for Other Minds
The following is a moral argument for the existence of other minds. If it is granted that we have a moral obligation to other people, then other minds must exist. Either we owe duties to our neighbors,or our moral obligations are fulfilled by our own wills. Something that must be done is either owed to someone else or ourselves. However, a person by their self cannot be the judge of their own cause, since if it is granted that a person can be a judge of their own cause, what is to keep them from willing the bad as a moral imperative? It is unacceptable that immoral imperatives should hold up. Thus, moral obligations are owed to our neighbors rather than ourselves, so that other minds exist.
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