Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Morality


I've been struggling to figure out how to logically reason past the idea of moral relativism.  I'm not going to always listen to authority JUST because it's authority.  I'm not going to do whatever I want based on the idea of opportunism (not getting caught) because I feel and know that there is right & wrong. I also refuse to strictly adhere to what has been done in the past just because it's tradition or traditional. You can't believe in strict utilitarianism because reasoning that "killing 3 to save 4 is by definition right" will lead you to some pretty dark places almost immediately, if you follow the logic.

The idea that there is no truth and that all cultures or cultural forces are nebulously equal is wrongheaded and only encourages idiocy and injustice.  But to say that there is an absolute fundamental truth belies a level of hubris even I can't claim. Saying someone should or should not do something requires a level of confidence and rigor that I don't think I have yet (google: Heinz dilemma questions).

I think this podcast may do well to push me in the right direction.  I'm not particularly religious anymore, so telling me I should do something because I'm TOLD to do it will probably make me want to do the opposite. Not to mention that there are many multitudes of systems and beliefs that tell people to terrible things in the name of righteousness.  The idea of doing something right because you SHOULD is something that I feel is truly fundamental, but I don't know all of the specifics yet.

If you give a crap, and want to read a tiny bit more on ethics and morality there's some very basic stuff on Wiki about Kohlberg's levels of moral development (I learned a tiny bit on 'em a year ago and forgot the name of them until today).  It's interesting stuff, and the last level deals with universal principles.  I'm going to have to do some further noodling over what makes up those universal principles and why.

Also, this kind of ties into the thoughts on developing political, regulatory, and tax systems because to make a good system you have to incentivize greedy and self-interested people to do the right thing by making it most beneficial for them. It would be nice, though, if we could further everyone along the path of doing what's right for the sake of doing what's right...

If you have any insights you'd like to share feel free to respond or PM me.

Now back to my regularly scheduled Case Report writing...


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