Old news: Sam Harris says science can answer moral questions. I just got around to watching this video, which is several months old.
I’m not convinced yet. While it does seem clear that we can identify better and worse ways to obtain human well-being, once it is defined, I am still skeptical that the source of that definition is scientific in the same way that, say, the theory of evolution is scientific. A lot of what Harris says in the talk strikes me as Aristotle reconfigured for modern times. And with Aristotle, while his idea of eudaimonia (which Harris’ “human well-being” seems a lot like) is appealing, I always feel like I’ve had the wool pulled over my eyes. There are too many propositions that begin “It should be obvious that…”.
Maybe the forthcoming book by Harris will be more satisfying.