Thanks for the detailed thoughts Alex! An incomplete reply:
I agree that “human well-being as the standard of value” leaves a lot open. That’s deliberate because I think that not everyone in this movement agrees on how exactly we should interpret, measure, etc. human well-being. Utilitarianism is one but not the only approach. It is an important topic for us to work out.
Agree with you about philosophy of risk / philosophy of safety. These are issues I am thinking about. For one preliminary, narrow case study see “How factories were made safe.”
I disagree that almost all progress is scientific/technological, if by that you mean that no significant moral/social progress has happened. The transition from monarchy to republics, the virtual end of slavery, and great progress in equal rights for women are three major points of moral/social progress that have occurred in the last ~250 years.
Thanks for the detailed thoughts Alex! An incomplete reply:
I agree that “human well-being as the standard of value” leaves a lot open. That’s deliberate because I think that not everyone in this movement agrees on how exactly we should interpret, measure, etc. human well-being. Utilitarianism is one but not the only approach. It is an important topic for us to work out.
Agree with you about philosophy of risk / philosophy of safety. These are issues I am thinking about. For one preliminary, narrow case study see “How factories were made safe.”
I disagree that almost all progress is scientific/technological, if by that you mean that no significant moral/social progress has happened. The transition from monarchy to republics, the virtual end of slavery, and great progress in equal rights for women are three major points of moral/social progress that have occurred in the last ~250 years.