However, the question of moral ontology remains...do objective moral values exist? Is there anything I (or anyone) should do, independent from what I desire?
Thanks for bringing up that point! You mentioned below your appreciation for desirism, which says inter alia that there are no intrinsic values independent of what agents desire. Nevertheless, I think there is another way of looking at it under desirism that is almost like saying that there are intrinsic values.
Pose the question this way: If I could choose my desires in whole or in part, what set of desires would I be most satisfied with? In general, an agent will be more satisfied with a larger number of satisfiable desires and a smaller number of unsatisfiable desires. Then the usual criteria of desirism apply as a filter.
To the very limited extent that I can modify my desires, I take that near-tautology to mean that, independently from what I currently desire, I should change my mind and enjoy and desire things I never used to, like professional sports, crime novels, and fashion, for popular examples. It would also mean that I should enjoy and desire a broad variety of music and food, and generally be highly curious. And it would mean I should reduce my desires for social status, perfect health as I age, and resolution of difficult philosophical problems.
I disagree. The downsides greatly outweigh the upsides from my perspective.
I’m skeptical that the behaviors people engage in to eke out a little more social status among people they don’t value are anything more than resources wasted with high opportunity cost.
And, at 30 years of age, I’m already starting to notice that recovery from minor injuries and illnesses takes longer than it used to—if I kept expecting and desiring perfect health, I’d get only disappointment from here on out. As much as I can choose it, I’ll choose to desire only a standard of health that is realistically achievable.
I haven’t read through it, yet, so I may be completely incorrect, but according to my understanding of Coherent Extrapolated Volition, moral progress as defined there is equivalent (or fairly similar to) to the world becoming “better” as defined by desirism (desires which promote the fulfillment of other desires become promoted).
Thanks for bringing up that point! You mentioned below your appreciation for desirism, which says inter alia that there are no intrinsic values independent of what agents desire. Nevertheless, I think there is another way of looking at it under desirism that is almost like saying that there are intrinsic values.
Pose the question this way: If I could choose my desires in whole or in part, what set of desires would I be most satisfied with? In general, an agent will be more satisfied with a larger number of satisfiable desires and a smaller number of unsatisfiable desires. Then the usual criteria of desirism apply as a filter.
To the very limited extent that I can modify my desires, I take that near-tautology to mean that, independently from what I currently desire, I should change my mind and enjoy and desire things I never used to, like professional sports, crime novels, and fashion, for popular examples. It would also mean that I should enjoy and desire a broad variety of music and food, and generally be highly curious. And it would mean I should reduce my desires for social status, perfect health as I age, and resolution of difficult philosophical problems.
Considering the extent to which those two can help with other objectives, I’d say you should be very careful about giving up on them.
I disagree. The downsides greatly outweigh the upsides from my perspective.
I’m skeptical that the behaviors people engage in to eke out a little more social status among people they don’t value are anything more than resources wasted with high opportunity cost.
And, at 30 years of age, I’m already starting to notice that recovery from minor injuries and illnesses takes longer than it used to—if I kept expecting and desiring perfect health, I’d get only disappointment from here on out. As much as I can choose it, I’ll choose to desire only a standard of health that is realistically achievable.
I haven’t read through it, yet, so I may be completely incorrect, but according to my understanding of Coherent Extrapolated Volition, moral progress as defined there is equivalent (or fairly similar to) to the world becoming “better” as defined by desirism (desires which promote the fulfillment of other desires become promoted).