Remember, morality is nothing but a useful proxy for boundedly rational agents to act in the interest of the society they are part of. There is nothing special about it. It is neither objective nor subjective. It is constructed. The closest view in metaethics and normative ethics is Moral Constructivism. Sean Carroll describes it as “human beings construct their ethical stances starting from basic impulses, logical reasoning, and communicating with others”. Here is a good podcast (and a transcript) where he interviews Molly Crockett.
I agree that’s all it is, but you can make all the same general statements about any algorithm.
The problem is that some people hear you say “constructed” and “nothing special”, and then conclude they can reconstruct it any way they wish. It may be constructed and not special in a cosmic sense, but it’s not arbitrary. All heuristics are not made equal for any given goal.
morality is nothing but a useful proxy for boundedly rational agents to act in the interest of the society they are part of
I feel like there’s truth in this, but it also leaves a lot unanswered. For example, what are the “interests of society”? Are they constructed too? Or: if someone faces a moral dilemma, and they’re trying to figure out the right thing to do, the psychologically relevant factors may include a sense of duty or responsibility. What is that? Is it a “basic impulse”? And so on.
Yeah, I was a bit vague there, definitely worth going deeper. One would start comparing societies that survive/thrive with those that do not, and compare prevailing ethics and how it responds to the external and internal changes. Basically “moral philosophy” would be more useful as a descriptive observational science, not a prescriptive one. I guess in that sense it is more like decision theory. And yes, it interfaces with psychology, education and what not.
Remember, morality is nothing but a useful proxy for boundedly rational agents to act in the interest of the society they are part of. There is nothing special about it. It is neither objective nor subjective. It is constructed. The closest view in metaethics and normative ethics is Moral Constructivism. Sean Carroll describes it as “human beings construct their ethical stances starting from basic impulses, logical reasoning, and communicating with others”. Here is a good podcast (and a transcript) where he interviews Molly Crockett.
I agree that’s all it is, but you can make all the same general statements about any algorithm.
The problem is that some people hear you say “constructed” and “nothing special”, and then conclude they can reconstruct it any way they wish. It may be constructed and not special in a cosmic sense, but it’s not arbitrary. All heuristics are not made equal for any given goal.
Yes, I agree with you there, constructed does not mean arbitrary. It has to be fit for a purpose.
I feel like there’s truth in this, but it also leaves a lot unanswered. For example, what are the “interests of society”? Are they constructed too? Or: if someone faces a moral dilemma, and they’re trying to figure out the right thing to do, the psychologically relevant factors may include a sense of duty or responsibility. What is that? Is it a “basic impulse”? And so on.
Yeah, I was a bit vague there, definitely worth going deeper. One would start comparing societies that survive/thrive with those that do not, and compare prevailing ethics and how it responds to the external and internal changes. Basically “moral philosophy” would be more useful as a descriptive observational science, not a prescriptive one. I guess in that sense it is more like decision theory. And yes, it interfaces with psychology, education and what not.