- People are animals (in a biological sense).
- People are social.
- People are rational.
- The key to all this is human
nature. Human nature is universal. Every human being
has exactly the same nature. This is because they are all members
of the same species.
- If anything is really good for any person, then it is good
for every person. If anything is really bad for any person, then
it can be said to be bad for every person. Anyone can ask the
question, "Would it be good to have a piano dropped on me?" The
answer is, of course "No." If the answer is "No" for anybody,
it is "No" for everybody.
- This demonstrates that moral claims like, "One should never
drop pianos on people," is universally true. That claim is prescriptive,
normative, objective, absolute, and true.
- Because there is a basis for ethics which applies to all people,
regardless of their culture, their location, or their time in
history, it necessarily follows that moral claims have the quality
of being true or false. They are frequently absolute. They are
rarely a matter of personal truth (a term critical thinkers avoid).
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