Category Archives: Ethics & Metaethics

Solve for x (good) & y (great/beautiful)

Posted on November 26, 2025 by Maryann Spikes

Following up on a segment of my last post, “It’s a greater ‘neutral value’ view that considers competing goods as neutral values before they are in the context of a decisive action,” from Graded Absolutism Revisited: Ordered Neutral Values, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Divine Essentialism, Ethics & Metaethics, Golden Rule, Harmonic Triads | Leave a comment

Graded Absolutism Revisited: Ordered Neutral Values

Posted on November 16, 2025 by Maryann Spikes

Generations of people who survived childhood are evidence of a mother’s nurturing and a father’s protection—or some other caregivers who stood in their places. At the animal level it involves following a program of parental empathy. At the intentional level … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Divine Essentialism, Ethics & Metaethics, Golden Rule, Harmonic Triads, Is-Ought Fallacy | 1 Comment

Rules: Descriptive, Prescriptive, and Purposive

Posted on October 22, 2025 by Maryann Spikes

Sparked by a “separation of church and state” discussion with my youngest son, David, and his beloved, Holly. Separation of Church/Religion and State/Science Science is descriptive – it cannot a) prescribe anything, or b) have a purpose behind it. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Ethics & Metaethics, Euthyphro Dilemma, Harmonic Triads, Is-Ought Fallacy | Leave a comment

Harmonic Triads Reference, Current Index

Posted on October 1, 2025 by Maryann Spikes

This index is not exhaustive, but current: The first fallacy: Ought-Value or Action-Quality Conflation On the impossibility of knowing a true tenseless fact without omnitemporality (read all the comments) Elaborating on C Theory Logic Venn (of Opposition/Reconciliation) C Theory of Time & the … Continue reading →

Posted in Epistemology, Ethics & Metaethics, Harmonic Triads, Is-Ought Fallacy, Justified True Belief | 3 Comments

The first fallacy: Ought-Value or Action-Quality Conflation

Posted on August 8, 2025 by Maryann Spikes

The first fallacy in philosophy, and not just the philosophy of ethics, is neither just the is-ought fallacy, nor just the failure to respect the fact-value distinction, but the fallacy of confusing the former for the latter: conflating oughts and values. This is relevant across every field, not just ethics, because it boils down and adds up to confusing action and quality. Together with the is/fact (substance) element from the first two fallacies, these three elements constitute the is-ought-value distinction, or the substance, action, quality triad. All three are required to obtain true, justified belief (knowledge) about anything, in any field of philosophy (including all the sciences). They are required together, but distinctly. One cannot stand in for either of the others.

But let’s begin in the field of ethics… Continue reading →

Posted in Divine Essentialism, Harmonic Triads, Is-Ought Fallacy, Justified True Belief | Tagged logical-fallacies, philosophy | Leave a comment

The Personhood Program

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Maryann Spikes

Regardless what species we are materially, persons are all structured to be able to see when there is inconsistency between our thoughts, values, and behaviors. We know that we are persons, and that there are other persons. We know we … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Ethics & Metaethics | 2 Comments

Jesus’ “State of the Kingdom” Address

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Maryann Spikes

Jesus’ “State of the Kingdom” Address: Good News of the Kingdom: Costly Grace https://a.co/d/6iE6IbX These are the words of Jesus found in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke/Acts, and John), and in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church, with only … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Ethics & Metaethics, Faith, Golden Rule, Natural Law and Divine Command, Neighboring, Problem of Evil & Hell, The Gospel | Leave a comment

Elaborating on C Theory

Posted on February 10, 2025 by Maryann Spikes

“The end is hypothetical while you are advancing towards or falling away from it. The end is hyperthetical once you have reached it.” (C Theory and the Venn of Import) That was END. Now let’s talk about NOW, relative to … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Divine Essentialism, Epistemology, Euthyphro Dilemma, Gettier Problem, Harmonic Triads, Is-Ought Fallacy, Justified True Belief | Leave a comment

C Theory of Time & the Venn of Import

Posted on June 14, 2024 by Maryann Spikes

First, an introduction of C Theory and the Venn of Import, then an explanation of how C Theory is distinct from and resolves conflicts arising from A and B theories, using the Venn (or Harmonic Triad) of Import. This is … Continue reading →