When you see the word “morals” used without further clarification, do you take it to mean something different from “values” or “terminal goals”?
Depends on context.
When I use it, it means something kind of like “what we want to happen.” More precisely, I treat moral principles as sort keys for determining the preference order of possible worlds. When I say that X is morally superior to Y, I mean that I prefer worlds with more X in them (all else being equal) to worlds with more Y in them.
I know other people who, when they use it, mean something kind of like that, if not quite so crisply, and I understand them that way.
I know people who, when they use it, mean something more like “complying with the rules tagged ‘moral’ in the social structure I’m embedded in.” I know people who, when they use it, mean something more like “complying with the rules implicit in the nonsocial structure of the world.” In both cases, I try to understand by it what I expect them to mean.
When you see the word “morals” used without further clarification, do you take it to mean something different from “values” or “terminal goals”?
Depends on context.
When I use it, it means something kind of like “what we want to happen.” More precisely, I treat moral principles as sort keys for determining the preference order of possible worlds. When I say that X is morally superior to Y, I mean that I prefer worlds with more X in them (all else being equal) to worlds with more Y in them.
I know other people who, when they use it, mean something kind of like that, if not quite so crisply, and I understand them that way.
I know people who, when they use it, mean something more like “complying with the rules tagged ‘moral’ in the social structure I’m embedded in.” I know people who, when they use it, mean something more like “complying with the rules implicit in the nonsocial structure of the world.” In both cases, I try to understand by it what I expect them to mean.