[AnimalMuppet]

I think you miss my point. Given de Sade's premise (that there is no God), his conclusion seems to follow. (If you think you can show that it doesn't, go for it.)

And many people accept de Sade's premise. They are then left with his conclusion. (Not necessarily sadism - that's just what de Sade felt like doing. The part that people are left with is "Whatever is, is right" - that is, there is no basis for a "should" or an "ought"; there is no basis for morals.)

[krapp]

It seems I got it completely backwards then, I feel kind of silly.

[AnimalMuppet]

Well... do you blame yourself, or my explanation? Message sent != message received, but the blame could be at my end.

[krapp]

I'm going to blame myself. I wound up arguing against a strawman without realizing it.

[lozf]

It was a beautifully absurd argument though, thank you :)

[krapp]

I guess that's better than nothing.