I think that if there is an objective morality, then you can use your concern about self-congratulatory narratives as a starting point. What moral view is leading you to think there’s any problem at all with enjoying a self-congratulatory narrative? Once you’ve identified it, you can figure out what other moral positions it might imply.
What moral view is leading you to think there’s any problem at all with enjoying a self-congratulatory narrative?
It’s not any specific moral view that causes me concern, but rather how the entire edifice is organized. There’s likely no end to the specific moral principles I can cite which hit me on a visceral level which I, purportedly, feel very strongly about. This includes the revulsion against slavery, which in my case partly extends even to consensual labor arrangements that have a significant imbalance of power (this is most prominent for the hospitality industry in poor countries serving a much richer clientele).
But when I contemplate how genetically identical I am to people from just a few hundred years ago, and when I see what those people felt strongly about, it’s reasonable for this to generate some pause on my end. Because what it demonstrates to me is that even the core visceral disgust I reflexively feel can’t be trusted. Nevertheless, I still rely heavily on this disgust reflex but it’s with the understanding that I’m engaging in fiction but have no better alternative.
I think that if there is an objective morality, then you can use your concern about self-congratulatory narratives as a starting point. What moral view is leading you to think there’s any problem at all with enjoying a self-congratulatory narrative? Once you’ve identified it, you can figure out what other moral positions it might imply.
It doesn’t have to be a moral objection. It’s circular argumentation, so it already goes against epistemic norms.
It’s not any specific moral view that causes me concern, but rather how the entire edifice is organized. There’s likely no end to the specific moral principles I can cite which hit me on a visceral level which I, purportedly, feel very strongly about. This includes the revulsion against slavery, which in my case partly extends even to consensual labor arrangements that have a significant imbalance of power (this is most prominent for the hospitality industry in poor countries serving a much richer clientele).
But when I contemplate how genetically identical I am to people from just a few hundred years ago, and when I see what those people felt strongly about, it’s reasonable for this to generate some pause on my end. Because what it demonstrates to me is that even the core visceral disgust I reflexively feel can’t be trusted. Nevertheless, I still rely heavily on this disgust reflex but it’s with the understanding that I’m engaging in fiction but have no better alternative.