I’m a consequentialist, and treating morality as terminal seems to me like missing the point of morality entirely. I’m glad I got it right that deontologists think that way. But I can’t understand why you would consider treating morality as terminal correct.
I can’t understand how anyone could think there was a fact of the matter about this. How possibly could I decide which was a better way to treat morality?
I don’t think there has to be an objective fact of the matter about it, in order for a person to find one way better. I don’t endorse the use of the word correct here, but I would say that consequentialism seems to be more fundamental. Deontology seems to stop too soon. Because I prefer reductionist explanations in general, it’s easy for me to decide that some form of consequentialism is “better”, given my preference. I’m interested to learn the reasons why others find deontology more appealing.
Fwiw, it seems to me that reduction is for natural objects not social constructions. You shouldn’t try to apply reductionism to the rules of a sporting event, for example. (I’m not a deontologist but I don’t think it is any less appealing than consequentialism.)
It may be a different flavor of reductionism from finding out how a clock works, but I still apply a kind of reductionism to social constructions, and well, pretty much everything. Social constructions, for example, have histories—origins and evolution—that I greatly enjoy digging into. You can read about how basketball originated, and what its creator was thinking when he selected the rules.
Sure, I see what you mean. But you can’t just change the rules of basketball because you don’t think they fit what the creator was trying to do. Similarly, the relevant reduction for ethics is cultural evolution and evolutionary psychology, but those fields of study won’t tell you how to act.
I can’t understand how anyone could think there was a fact of the matter about this. How possibly could I decide which was a better way to treat morality?
I don’t think there has to be an objective fact of the matter about it, in order for a person to find one way better. I don’t endorse the use of the word correct here, but I would say that consequentialism seems to be more fundamental. Deontology seems to stop too soon. Because I prefer reductionist explanations in general, it’s easy for me to decide that some form of consequentialism is “better”, given my preference. I’m interested to learn the reasons why others find deontology more appealing.
Got it.
Fwiw, it seems to me that reduction is for natural objects not social constructions. You shouldn’t try to apply reductionism to the rules of a sporting event, for example. (I’m not a deontologist but I don’t think it is any less appealing than consequentialism.)
It may be a different flavor of reductionism from finding out how a clock works, but I still apply a kind of reductionism to social constructions, and well, pretty much everything. Social constructions, for example, have histories—origins and evolution—that I greatly enjoy digging into. You can read about how basketball originated, and what its creator was thinking when he selected the rules.
Sure, I see what you mean. But you can’t just change the rules of basketball because you don’t think they fit what the creator was trying to do. Similarly, the relevant reduction for ethics is cultural evolution and evolutionary psychology, but those fields of study won’t tell you how to act.
ETA: Can’t, not can. Oops.