That is interesting, because disregarding consequences to oneself is pretty heroic, but disregarding consequences to others… can be pretty dangerous. I can see how a dictator could abuse it Rwanda style “your duty to your nation is to kill all the Others, regardless of the consequences to them”… and yet, India is largely a democratic place today not known for unusually many atrocities e.g. not massacring civilians in the Kargil War or stuff like that, so it seems like that bullet was kind of dodged and this kind of very dangerous interpretation not used.
Right, but you’re not literally disregarding the consequences—Krishna was very much in favor of consequentialism over deontological constraints (In this scenario, the deontological constraint was “thou shalt not murder” and Krishna said “except for the greater good”) … at least within that particular dialogue. The consequences are all that matter.
What you’re doing is not being attached to the consequences. To put it in effective altruist terms, disregarding the ego makes you favor utility over warm fuzzies: Warm fuzzies appeal to your ego, which is tied to the visceral sensation that helping has on you, rather than the actual external objective measures of helping.
(Ultimately, of course, squeezing philosophy out of thousand year old texts is a little like reading tea leaves, and the chosen interpretation generally says more about the reader than the writer. It’s not a coincidence that my interpretation happens to line up with what I think anyway.)
The cultural meme for non-violence for vedics is pretty strong. As far as I know, it’s the only culture for which vegetarianism is a traditional moral value (though I suppose the availability of lentils might have contributed to making that a more feasible option.)
The cultural meme for non-violence for vedics is pretty strong.
I think that’s a necessary safeguard, because otherwise “doing what must be done without being attached to the consequences” can lead to pretty ugly places.
That is interesting, because disregarding consequences to oneself is pretty heroic, but disregarding consequences to others… can be pretty dangerous. I can see how a dictator could abuse it Rwanda style “your duty to your nation is to kill all the Others, regardless of the consequences to them”… and yet, India is largely a democratic place today not known for unusually many atrocities e.g. not massacring civilians in the Kargil War or stuff like that, so it seems like that bullet was kind of dodged and this kind of very dangerous interpretation not used.
Right, but you’re not literally disregarding the consequences—Krishna was very much in favor of consequentialism over deontological constraints (In this scenario, the deontological constraint was “thou shalt not murder” and Krishna said “except for the greater good”) … at least within that particular dialogue. The consequences are all that matter.
What you’re doing is not being attached to the consequences. To put it in effective altruist terms, disregarding the ego makes you favor utility over warm fuzzies: Warm fuzzies appeal to your ego, which is tied to the visceral sensation that helping has on you, rather than the actual external objective measures of helping.
(Ultimately, of course, squeezing philosophy out of thousand year old texts is a little like reading tea leaves, and the chosen interpretation generally says more about the reader than the writer. It’s not a coincidence that my interpretation happens to line up with what I think anyway.)
The cultural meme for non-violence for vedics is pretty strong. As far as I know, it’s the only culture for which vegetarianism is a traditional moral value (though I suppose the availability of lentils might have contributed to making that a more feasible option.)
I think that’s a necessary safeguard, because otherwise “doing what must be done without being attached to the consequences” can lead to pretty ugly places.