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.
In this world, only winter is certain
The truth is how you say it, and to be 'one's self' is the most shocking custom of all.
We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature.
This liberty is all that I request.
The colour of the skin is in no way connected with strength of the mind or intellectual powers.
We're all water from different rivers, That's why it's so easy to meet, We're all water in this vast, vast ocean, Someday we'll evaporate together.
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