If pressed to refine my concept of happiness, I had two avenues open
What about Eliezer’s position, which you don’t seem to address, that happiness is just one value among many? Why jump to the (again, highly counterintuitive) conclusion that happiness is not a value at all?
What about Eliezer’s position, which you don’t seem to address, that happiness is just one value among many? Why jump to the (again, highly counterintuitive) conclusion that happiness is not a value at all?
To me it doesn’t seem so counterintuitive. I actually came to this view through thinking about tourism, and it struck me that (a) beautiful undisturbed planet is morally preferable to (b) beautiful planet disturbed by sightseers who are passively impressed by its beauty, which they spoil ever so slightly, and contribute nothing (i.e. it doesn’t inspire them to create anything beautiful themselves).
In other words, even the “higher happiness” of aesthetic appreciation doesn’t necessarily have value. If there’s ‘intrinsic value’ anywhere in the system, it’s in nature (or art) itself, not the person appreciating it.
But again, I don’t take this ‘cold’, ‘ascetic’ concept of morality to be the ‘final truth’. I don’t think there is such a thing.
What about Eliezer’s position, which you don’t seem to address, that happiness is just one value among many? Why jump to the (again, highly counterintuitive) conclusion that happiness is not a value at all?
To me it doesn’t seem so counterintuitive. I actually came to this view through thinking about tourism, and it struck me that (a) beautiful undisturbed planet is morally preferable to (b) beautiful planet disturbed by sightseers who are passively impressed by its beauty, which they spoil ever so slightly, and contribute nothing (i.e. it doesn’t inspire them to create anything beautiful themselves).
In other words, even the “higher happiness” of aesthetic appreciation doesn’t necessarily have value. If there’s ‘intrinsic value’ anywhere in the system, it’s in nature (or art) itself, not the person appreciating it.
But again, I don’t take this ‘cold’, ‘ascetic’ concept of morality to be the ‘final truth’. I don’t think there is such a thing.