One of the great questions of philosophy is, do we innately have morality, or do we get it from celestial dictation? A study of the Ten Commandments is a very good way of getting into and resolving that issue.
Interpretation
The quote explores the origins of morality, questioning whether it is inherent to humans or given by a higher power.
Christopher Hitchens raises a fundamental philosophical question regarding the source of human morality. He contrasts the idea of innate morality, suggesting it may be an inherent characteristic of human beings, against the notion that moral codes are supplied from divine sources, such as the commandments outlined in religious texts. Through this lens, he proposes that examining the Ten Commandments could provide insights into understanding this complex issue of morality's origin.
In practice
In a discussion about ethics at a philosophy club meeting.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way — because it’s had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But you’ve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
Buddhism notes that it is always a mistake to think your soul can go it alone.
We stole countries with the cunning use of flags. Just sail around the world and stick a flag in. "I claim India for Britain!" They're going "You can't claim us, we live here! Five hundred million of us!" "Do you have a flag …? "No..." "Well, if you don't have a flag, then you can't have a country. Those are the rules... that I just made up!
Miracles arise from our ignorance of nature, not from nature itself.
We need to learn how to capture and kill wild fish humanely - or, if that is not possible, to find less cruel and more sustainable alternatives to eating them.
Let us remember that a traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not intend. It can be so, sometimes.
The more complex the network is, the more complex its pattern of interconnections, the more resilient it will be.
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