I think the answer (to why this behavior adds up to normality) is in the spectrum of semantics of knowledge that people operate with. Some knowledge is primarily perception, and reflects what is clearly possible or what clearly already is. Other kind of “knowledge” is about goals: it reflects what states of environment are desirable, and not necessarily which states are in fact possible. These concepts drive the behavior, each pushing in its own direction: perception shows what is possible, goals show where to steer the boat. But if these concepts have similar implementation and many intermediate grades, it would explain the resulting confusion: some of the concepts (subgoals) start to indicate things that are somewhat desirable and maybe possible, and so on.
In the case of moral argument, what a person wants corresponds to pure goals and has little feasibility part in it (“I want to get the whole pie”). “What is morally right” adds a measure of feasibility, since such question is posed in the context of many people participating at the same time, so since everyone getting the whole pie is not feasible, it is not in answer in that case. Each person is a goal-directed agent, operating towards certain a-priory infeasible goals, plotting feasible plants towards them. In the context of society, these plans are developed so as to satisfy the real-world constraints that it imposes.
Thus, “morally right” behavior is not the content of goal-for-society, it is an adapted action plan of individual agents towards their own infeasible-here goals. How to formulate the goal-for-society, I don’t know, but it seems to have little to do with what presently forms as morally right behavior. It would need to be derived from goals of individual agents somehow.
I think the answer (to why this behavior adds up to normality) is in the spectrum of semantics of knowledge that people operate with. Some knowledge is primarily perception, and reflects what is clearly possible or what clearly already is. Other kind of “knowledge” is about goals: it reflects what states of environment are desirable, and not necessarily which states are in fact possible. These concepts drive the behavior, each pushing in its own direction: perception shows what is possible, goals show where to steer the boat. But if these concepts have similar implementation and many intermediate grades, it would explain the resulting confusion: some of the concepts (subgoals) start to indicate things that are somewhat desirable and maybe possible, and so on.
In the case of moral argument, what a person wants corresponds to pure goals and has little feasibility part in it (“I want to get the whole pie”). “What is morally right” adds a measure of feasibility, since such question is posed in the context of many people participating at the same time, so since everyone getting the whole pie is not feasible, it is not in answer in that case. Each person is a goal-directed agent, operating towards certain a-priory infeasible goals, plotting feasible plants towards them. In the context of society, these plans are developed so as to satisfy the real-world constraints that it imposes.
Thus, “morally right” behavior is not the content of goal-for-society, it is an adapted action plan of individual agents towards their own infeasible-here goals. How to formulate the goal-for-society, I don’t know, but it seems to have little to do with what presently forms as morally right behavior. It would need to be derived from goals of individual agents somehow.