My Mission:
To improve our understanding of human nature in a way that helps to further human flourishing.
My Vision:
A world where human flourishing harmonizes with Earth's Life Systems
Freedom vs Determinism
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
-
Coming soon: a discussion on the idea of freedom. In the meantime here is an excellent source for ideas in this debate:
If Morality requires clear boundaries, fair and equitable rules, and active participation of group members in monitoring and enforcement, it resembles in some ways the conditions that make for successful long-term management of a Common Pool Resource. A C ommon Pool Resource , sometimes called a CPR , is a resource such as a body of water, irrigation channel, fishery, alpine meadow, etc., which is held in common. Common Pool Resources are akin to Public Goods such as public roads, in that, if they are available, they are available to everyone. The thing about a CPR that is different from a public good is that when one takes away from the pool, there is less in the pool. With public goods this is not the case. If I drive on a road, I don’t make the road less available to others. A Moral System can be seen as a kind of Social Capital ; something that’s necessary for human society to get off the ground; something that, once put in plac...
Where to start? What keeps philosophers up at night worrying? I can assure you it isn’t meta-ethics, which I will discuss after I’ve introduced the real villain in this story. What keeps philosophers up at night is something called “ethical naturalism”. That’s the notion that there can be a science of morality, a way of explaining what morality does that is non-subjective and avoids the notions of moral freedom, responsibility, and purpose. Historically, past forms of ethical naturalism have morphed into Eugenics and Social Darwinism, practices which, in their crudest forms have led to the death camps. So, yes, it has kept me up at night. But don’t worry, because there is a philosophical antidote to this horrible disease! It is called “meta-ethics”; and, although I heartily agree that it does help me to get a good night’s rest, I think it actually makes it harder for all of us to understand how ethics works, and it almost seems as if it is desi...
The philosophical problem common to both Plato and Rawls was how to form a just society. Plato’s solution was to institute a sustainable authoritarian state with the help of a “philosopher king”. John Rawls’ more modern idea was to build a social consensus around the form of the just society, by imagining an initial bargaining position, where, each participant, under a “veil of ignorance”, has “forgotten” their own socio-economic status. The idea being, that by abstracting out socio-economic status, the participants in this imaginary constitutional convention are more likely to agree to principles of equality and justice for all, that, just by coincidence, would resemble the modern welfare state. As a thought experiment, I suppose that is a fine thing to do, but I think the key to understanding what makes a just society is understanding the difference between humans and all other animals; and, (spoiler alert!) that difference has to do with o...
Comments
Post a Comment