From: Mikko Särelä (msarela@cc.hut.fi)
Date: Sat Feb 14 2004 - 00:01:14 MST
On Fri, 13 Feb 2004, Ben Goertzel wrote:
> Well, I don't think all ethical systems are equivalent. However, I think
> there are many different ethical and meta-ethical systems that are
> equivalently good from the point of view of reason. Reason merely judges
> whether an ethical or meta-ethical system is CONSISTENT or not. It makes no
> judgment beyond that. And I think there are many different consistent
> ethical and meta-ethical systems.
I agree with you on the importance of consistency, but disagree that it is
the only way of judging ethical system by reason.
Human action consists of goals and the means used to get to those goals.
Consistency of the internal system of human action means that our goals
and our means are not contradictory as such. In addition to that we can
also judge the ethical system by asking whether some of the goals or means
used to reach them, impede the person from reaching his goals (because how
the universe works).
In other words, logically consistent, but self defeating moral system is a
bad moral system according to my criteria.
-- Mikko Särelä Emperor Bonaparte: "Where does God fit into your system?" Pièrre Simon Laplace: "Sire, I have no need for that hypothesis."
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