Should we Americans care what the world thinks of us?

[ilw]

When i think unchanging values I think religious fundamentalists :/

Name an unchanging value (i.e. one you expect to hold forever)

[j2k4]

When i think unchanging values I think religious fundamentalists :/

Name an unchanging value (i.e. one you expect to hold forever)

Reformulate, Ian.

Values by their nature resist change.

You seem to be advocating moral relativism, which (taken to an absurd but illustrative extreme) allows us to say that when we consider how to end the strife in Darfur, we have two options, one being that we wade in on behalf of the oppressed and fight the oppressors (the long route), or we aid the oppressors in exterminating the oppressed (much shorter); in both instances, we achieve our ends.

[ilw]

no i'm not advocating moral relativism, although i used to think it was valid, i now only think it is useful to gain perspective, in the end you still have to base your decisions on what you think is right. (btw i don't think you're example really is moral relativism, moral relativisim is more about not assuming your morals are correct/universal)

back on topic, I don't think i can reformulate my sort of challenge. Name a value and i'll try to point out the assumptions contained within it and suggest a future scenario where it is invalid.

My basic point is that all values are subjective and context dependent and so will eventually become invalid. Saying that they are objective because a group of people agree on them at one stage in time is false imo because the group and the world will change.