I think we just have different values. I think death is bad in itself, regardless of anything else. If someone dies painlessly and no one ever noticed that they had died, I would still consider it bad.
I also think that truth is good in and of itself. I want to know the truth and I think it’s good in general when people know the truth.
Why?
I mean sure, ultimately morality is subjective, but even so, a morality with simpler axioms is much more attractive than ones with complex axioms like “death is bad” and “truth is good”. Once you have such chunky moral axioms, why is your moral system better than “orange juice is good” and “broccoli is bad”.
Raw utilitarianism at least has only one axiom. The only good thing is conscious beings utility (admittedly a complex chunky idea too, but at least it’s only one, rather than requiring hundreds of indivisible core good and bad things).
a morality with simpler axioms is much more attractive
Not to a morality that disagrees with it. So only if it’s a simpler equivalent reformulation. But really having a corrigible attitude to your own morality is the way of not turning into a monomaniacal wrapper-mind that goodharts a proxy as strongly as possible.
Why?
I mean sure, ultimately morality is subjective, but even so, a morality with simpler axioms is much more attractive than ones with complex axioms like “death is bad” and “truth is good”. Once you have such chunky moral axioms, why is your moral system better than “orange juice is good” and “broccoli is bad”.
Raw utilitarianism at least has only one axiom. The only good thing is conscious beings utility (admittedly a complex chunky idea too, but at least it’s only one, rather than requiring hundreds of indivisible core good and bad things).
Not to a morality that disagrees with it. So only if it’s a simpler equivalent reformulation. But really having a corrigible attitude to your own morality is the way of not turning into a monomaniacal wrapper-mind that goodharts a proxy as strongly as possible.