“according to , a world with creatures who know what is is better than one without such creatures, all other things being equal”
The simpler and more accurate ways of expressing that are “Joe prefers A over B”, or to more clearly indicate the preference as a moral preference, “A is preferable to B according to Joe’s moral values”.
Should goes beyond a statement of preference or higher rank according to a set of values, and implies that someone has the moral obligation to make it happen, or more precisely, to take a certain action. According to my values, I’d prefer that I had magical powers, but there’s no person I can identify who has the moral obligation to give them to me, not even myself.
The simpler and more accurate ways of expressing that are “Joe prefers A over B”, or to more clearly indicate the preference as a moral preference, “A is preferable to B according to Joe’s moral values”.
Should goes beyond a statement of preference or higher rank according to a set of values, and implies that someone has the moral obligation to make it happen, or more precisely, to take a certain action. According to my values, I’d prefer that I had magical powers, but there’s no person I can identify who has the moral obligation to give them to me, not even myself.