Philosophy's lack of proofs

[chokhmah <chokhmah@xxxxxxxxxx>]

The problem with philosophy in general is the inability to verify or
prove its conclusions. This was discussed in the past with idealism vs
realism; there is no way to prove, without resorting to some authority
or tradition, which is true. The Ship of Theseus paradox regarding
identity is another.

In this thread, let us discuss ethics. How do you *prove*, in a way
convincing manner, that behavior XYZ is ethical? Take the hypothetical
statement: "Killing X is wrong".

X could represent a human, an animal, a plant, a cell, a robot, etc.
Most people agree killing a human is wrong. Some believe killing an
animal is wrong. A tiny minority believe killing a plant is wrong.
Without religious tradition, how do you prove that Killing X is wrong,
or that Killing X is ethically acceptable?

As another example, take the ethical statement, "Y requires permission
from Z". For example, Y could be taking a photo, which would require
permission from Z the person in the photo. Or Y could be dumping
pollution in a river, which would require permission from Z the
municipality that owns the river. How do you *prove* that these actions
are ethical or unethical?

Plato thought that censorship of the arts and literature was ethical to
achieve his goal of a harmonius, beautiful city. He believed deceiving
the public was ethical to enforce an efficient caste system. He thought
forced marriages and infanticide was ethical to achieve superior human
breeds. Without resorting to tradition, how do you prove that what he
believed was unethical?

For these questions, there has been almost zero consensus amongst
philosophers for over two thousand years. This is why ethics (and
philosophy in general) appears to many to be a fruitless field. It is
not because I do not desire to learn the truth. The problem is no hard
proofs can ever be offered, so no consensus can ever be reached. The
result is no truth is to be found.

It is not like this in other fields like mathematics where proofs can be
demonstrated, consistency and logic is systematic and methodical be
demonstrated, and sometimes empirical experiments can even be used to
confirm the truth of claims.

chokhmah