An alternative framing of this project (for global utilitarians) is “the project of explaining our moral intuitions and other ethical considerations” ala rule utilitiarianism. I don’t see this as a purely empirical project though; there’s also a lot of conceptual work which philosophy is well equipped for. That said,
those inclined to stop at the basic set seem more likely to sit down in the armchair for a bit, answer their central questions with reference to the basic set, then get up and leave — in search of further, empirical information and opportunity relevant to promoting their basic values in practice
rings very true. I enrolled in a double degree in arts/science, including philosophy, but by the end of second year writing another essay exploring how _____ arises from utilitarianism was a lot less enticing than a semester studying {cybernetics, climate, supercomputing, remote sensing, …} and so I graduated with a degree in interdisciplinary sciences instead.
An alternative framing of this project (for global utilitarians) is “the project of explaining our moral intuitions and other ethical considerations” ala rule utilitiarianism. I don’t see this as a purely empirical project though; there’s also a lot of conceptual work which philosophy is well equipped for. That said,
rings very true. I enrolled in a double degree in arts/science, including philosophy, but by the end of second year writing another essay exploring how _____ arises from utilitarianism was a lot less enticing than a semester studying {cybernetics, climate, supercomputing, remote sensing, …} and so I graduated with a degree in interdisciplinary sciences instead.