komponisto, we can leave aside the question of whether moral progress is possible or actual and focus on why we should expect it to be associated with technological progress. We can easily see that in the middle ages people were trying to create tougher armor and more powerful weaponry. Ethically, they seem to strive to be more obedient Christians. That includes setting as a goal things that many of us today consider IMMORAL. Rather than hoping for progress along that axis, many instead thought that mankind was Fallen from an earlier golden age and if anything sought to turn the clock back (that is how the early Protestants and Puritans viewed themselves). It was never the case that anybody simply made moral discoveries that were simply proven to all who would listen, as in Eliezer’s silly example of At’gra’len’ley. It was often the case that two sides considered each other immoral and one of them outcompeted the other militarily and shut up its propagandists. For what reason should we think it most likely that the victor actually was more moral?
komponisto, we can leave aside the question of whether moral progress is possible or actual and focus on why we should expect it to be associated with technological progress. We can easily see that in the middle ages people were trying to create tougher armor and more powerful weaponry. Ethically, they seem to strive to be more obedient Christians. That includes setting as a goal things that many of us today consider IMMORAL. Rather than hoping for progress along that axis, many instead thought that mankind was Fallen from an earlier golden age and if anything sought to turn the clock back (that is how the early Protestants and Puritans viewed themselves). It was never the case that anybody simply made moral discoveries that were simply proven to all who would listen, as in Eliezer’s silly example of At’gra’len’ley. It was often the case that two sides considered each other immoral and one of them outcompeted the other militarily and shut up its propagandists. For what reason should we think it most likely that the victor actually was more moral?