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    On Integrity as the Highest Value 

    by
    Richard Amiel McGough
    Published on 01-01-2013 12:24 AM  Number of Views: 5549 

    INTEGRITY:

    1. The state of being whole, undivided, perfect in composition; unity, wholeness, completeness.
    2. The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

    Integrity is the grand unifying concept of all knowledge and philosophy. It is the way, the means, and the end all in one. It is the ultimate value that subsumes all other values and explains why they are valuable. It is what defines a self or any entity that exists. Its absence literally entails disintegration, corruption, and confusion. Integrity is the root of all that is good and true. It is an end in itself.

    There has been much philosophical, psychological, and ethical discussion about the meaning of integrity. The word carries many rich and diverse overtones but there is one idea that underlies them all, unity. The concept that unifies all philosophy and knowledge is itself that which it describes, unity. It is self-coherent and self-reflective. It is the most stable of all conceptions. It is fundamental to the very concept of being itself.

    I have been fascinated with the concept of unity and self-reflective self-coherence for many years. This article welcomes the New Year 2013 as the Year of Love and Unity and gives a brief overview of the lines of research I will be pursuing. There is no limit to what could be written on this theme. This article is an outline of my basic insights and intuitions that move me to think that integrity is the key that opens every door. It unifies everything from the most fundamental meaning of existence itself (Ontology) to the highest value any sentient being can know (Love) which is itself the ultimate unity, the mystical vision that All is One.
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    Reasons to Reject or Not Reject the Christian Faith 

    by
    Richard Amiel McGough
    Published on 12-20-2012 01:37 PM  Number of Views: 19189 

    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    Hi everybody,

    Richard and I just met and have had a couple of chats before now. I appreciate his inviting me to come and discuss the topic of Reasons for Rejecting or Not Rejecting the Christian faith.

    I am impressed that he has been so gracious in our conversations, and in his answers to the posts that I have read. I am impressed with his background and acumen. However, I am even more impressed that (from my perspective),
    ...
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    Clarifying the Logic of Love 

    by
    Richard Amiel McGough
    Published on 12-08-2012 10:51 AM  Number of Views: 20873 

    A thoughtful reader posed a series of questions and challenges to my article The Logic of Love: A Natural Theory of Morality. I'm sure many folks will have similar questions so I am posting my answers here in their own thread (since they are quickly buried in the comment stream). I'm hoping more folks will challenge my theory so it's validity can be "tested in the fire" so please don't be shy!
    ...
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    Say what? A Fundamentalist Defends the Sexism of the Bible 

    by
    Richard Amiel McGough
    Published on 12-07-2012 10:06 AM  Number of Views: 7014 
    Article Preview

    In my recent article The Inextricable Sexism of the Bible I presented a large body of evidence supporting my thesis. This presents a problem for Biblical fundamentalists because they passionately believe that the rule of males over females is the "Divine Order" instituted by God himself but balk at calling it "sexism" because sexism is wrong according to modern secular values. So what's a good fundamentalist to do? Twist words beyond all recognition, of course. That is the primary tactic in any defense of the indefensible. My response below picks up after our initial interaction where he accused me of "failing to understand the simple meaning of words."

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    The Logic of Love: A Natural Theory of Morality 

    by
    Richard Amiel McGough
    Published on 10-25-2012 11:39 PM  Number of Views: 42440 
    Article Preview

    All you need is love, all you need is love,
    All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
    All you need is love (all together now)
    All you need is love (everybody)
    All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

    ~ The Beatles (1967)


    This article presents an objective, naturalistic, scientific theory of morality. It is presented as an answer to the religious argument that there would be no objective morality without God and the equally fallacious secular argument that there is no objective morality at all. It is based on the same fundamental principles that have guided modern physicists to discover the unified laws of nature. To understand it, we first must review the essential nature of science and the historical trajectory that has led to the modern unified theories.

    Objectivity, Symmetry, and Invariance
    The essence of science is objectivity and the essence of objectivity is invariance under transformation. Harvard philosopher Robert Nozick explained this in his article Invariance and Objectivity where he describes the nature of objective facts or truths as follows:

    1. First, an objective fact is accessible from different angles. It can be repeated by the same sense (sight, touch, etc.) at different times, it can be repeated by different senses of one observer, and by different observers. Different laboratories can replicate the phenomenon.
    2. The second mark of an objective truth, related to the first, is that there is or can be intersubjective agreement about it.
    3. The third feature concerns independence. If p is an objective truth, then it holds independently of people's beliefs, desires, hopes, and observations or measurements that p.
    4. An objective fact is invariant under various transformations. It is this invariance that constitutes something as an objective truth and it underlies and explains the first three features.

    Nozick unified and grounded our concept of objectivity by explaining all its features in terms of a single concept - invariance under transformation. This commonsensical definition is the very root of why we believe there is an "objective world" independent of ourselves. We pick up an object, rotate it, look at it under different light, tap on it. We show it to others and ask what they see. Some properties remain invariant no matter how we or others investigate it; we call those properties objective facts.
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    The Inextricable Sexism of the Bible 

    by
    Richard Amiel McGough
    Published on 10-18-2012 07:24 PM  Number of Views: 35402 

    The Theological Sexism of the Bible
    The Bible is an ancient book written by primitive men with primitive morals, chief amongst them being a thoroughly sexist view of women. Sexism saturates the Bible from beginning to end. It is inextricable because it is entwined with the fundamental theological understanding of God himself who is not only male but a Trinity of males consisting of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This male God stands at the head of a hierarchy of male authority that puts women at the bottom:
    But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. (1 Cor 11:3)
    The sexism of the Bible cannot be denied without attacking its fundamental theological view of God and his relation to humans:
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    The Golden Rule and the Foundation of Objective Morality 

    by
    Richard Amiel McGough
    Published on 10-11-2012 05:43 PM  Number of Views: 9623 

    So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
    ~ Matthew 7:12 (NIV)
    The "Moral Argument for God" asserts that there would be no moral truths if there were no God. Here is how prominent Christian apologist William Lane Craig formulates the argument:

    1. If God does not exist, objective moral values
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