Sorry for so long between this response and the previous one, but I’m still interested. With the Muller-Lyer Illusion, you can demonstrate it’s an illusion by using a ruler. Following your analogy, how would you demonstrate that a incorrect moral extrapolation was similarly in error? Is there a moral “ruler”?
Not one that you can buy at an office supply store, at any rate, but you can triangulate a little using other people and of course checking for consistency is important.
You say you can order a list of statements from more to less confident. Say, Moral Principle A is more confident than Moral Principle B. But how do you know that? Why isn’t Moral Principle B more confident than Moral Principle A? I imagine you have some criteria for determining the confidence of moral principles to determine their order, but I don’t know what that criteria is.
Sorry for so long between this response and the previous one, but I’m still interested. With the Muller-Lyer Illusion, you can demonstrate it’s an illusion by using a ruler. Following your analogy, how would you demonstrate that a incorrect moral extrapolation was similarly in error? Is there a moral “ruler”?
Not one that you can buy at an office supply store, at any rate, but you can triangulate a little using other people and of course checking for consistency is important.
So what is moral is what is the most popular among all internally consistent possibilities?
No, morality is not contingent on popularity.
I’m confused. Can you explain how you triangulate morality using other people?
Mostly, they’re helpful for locating hypotheses.
I’m still confused, sorry. How do you arrive at a moral principle and how do you know it’s not a moral illusion?
You can’t be certain it’s not a moral illusion, I hope I never implied that.
You’re right; you haven’t. Do you put any probability estimate on whether a certain moral principle is not an illusion? If so, how?
I don’t naturally think in numbers and decline to forcibly attach any. I could probably order a list of statements from more to less confident.
By what basis do you make that ordering?
I’m not sure what you mean by this question.
You say you can order a list of statements from more to less confident. Say, Moral Principle A is more confident than Moral Principle B. But how do you know that? Why isn’t Moral Principle B more confident than Moral Principle A? I imagine you have some criteria for determining the confidence of moral principles to determine their order, but I don’t know what that criteria is.
Someone has taken a dislike to this thread, so I’m going to tap out now.
Thanks for the conversation.