I often got this as an objection to utilitarianism
I wasnt objecting to utilitarianism.
There could be further considerations that can be brought to bear. Just because something is claimed as axiomatic , doesn’t mean the buck has actually stopped
.There could be in some cases, if people find out they didn’t really believe their axiom after all.
Belief isnt the important criterion. The important criterion is whether person B can argue for or against what person A takes as automatic. How do you show objectively that claim can’t be argued for, and has to be assumed.
don’t quite agree with the prominent LW-opinion that human values are complex.
Values are complex. Whether moral values are complex is another story.
still don’t know what you think is bad about bad deontology.
It is often vague
That doesn’t seem to be an intrinsic problem. You can make a set of rules as precise as you like. It also not clear that the well known alternatives fare better. Utilitarianism, in particular, works only in fairly constrained domains, where you’re not comparing apples and oranges.
It contains discussion stoppers like “rights”,
Arguably, that’s a feature, not a bug. If people realised how insubstantial ethics is, they would have trouble sticking to it.
I know, my point referred to people using “ethics is from humans for humans” in a way that would also rule out transhumanism.
Belief isnt the important criterion. The important criterion is whether person B can argue for or against what person A takes as automatic. How do you show objectively that claim can’t be argued for, and has to be assumed.
The burden of proof is elsewhere, how do you overcome the is-ought distinction when you try to justify/argue for a claim? Edit: To repraphse this (don’t know how this could get me downvotes, but I’m trying to make this more clear), if the arguments for the is-ought distinction, which seem totally sound, are correct, it is unclear how you could argue for person A’s moral assumptions being incorrect, at least in cases where these assumptions are non-contradicting and not based on confused metaphysics.
I wasnt objecting to utilitarianism.
Belief isnt the important criterion. The important criterion is whether person B can argue for or against what person A takes as automatic. How do you show objectively that claim can’t be argued for, and has to be assumed.
Values are complex. Whether moral values are complex is another story.
That doesn’t seem to be an intrinsic problem. You can make a set of rules as precise as you like. It also not clear that the well known alternatives fare better. Utilitarianism, in particular, works only in fairly constrained domains, where you’re not comparing apples and oranges.
Arguably, that’s a feature, not a bug. If people realised how insubstantial ethics is, they would have trouble sticking to it.
I know, my point referred to people using “ethics is from humans for humans” in a way that would also rule out transhumanism.
The burden of proof is elsewhere, how do you overcome the is-ought distinction when you try to justify/argue for a claim? Edit: To repraphse this (don’t know how this could get me downvotes, but I’m trying to make this more clear), if the arguments for the is-ought distinction, which seem totally sound, are correct, it is unclear how you could argue for person A’s moral assumptions being incorrect, at least in cases where these assumptions are non-contradicting and not based on confused metaphysics.