Still, eventually, Mo will get around to, “the baby ought not to have suffered at the hands of someone’s abuse.”
And if it is established that someone abused the baby intentionally then surely this must be an “ought not” beyond which no rational mind could possibly object.
But what if the mind is able to convince itself that, in fact, any behavior deemed self-gratifying is not irrational at all?
Is this “in fact” false?
What if particular behaviors are rooted in labyrinthian motivation – inclinations, provocations, inducements, agencies etc. – that are hopelessly embedded [entangled] in any of a virtual infinite number of ways in which “I” might come to view its own life “out in the world”?
This is the argument I don’t quite know how to unravel. It repulses me that someone would derive actual gratification from abusing a baby…an innocent child. But I know from watching the local news there are people like this that do. And if there is no God how can it be argued objectively that such behaviors are in fact objectively immoral when in fact any particular dasein is able to rationalize them? If only because, “I do what I want.”
It seems to me [though I may well be wrong] Mo needs people he can become a river for. They can come to him and he can assure them that he knows when things are Good and when things are Bad. Not only that, but he knows this for sure, “scientifically”.
In other words, with respect to value judgments, Mo is not an ironist. He gets to say what he means because he really does believe he means what he says. He must because he seems adament that you must come to mean what he says too.
Some people are able to think like this. Some people are not. This is no less rooted in dasein. And parts of me would like to think like this again, but: I’m running out of time to be convinced it isn’t just a psychological defense mechanism invented by minds who [if only subconsciously] recognize what it means to live in a world where, in the absense of God, all things really can be rationalized.
And if you able to rationalize something then “for all practical purposes” it is permitted.