I don’t think that sentence is true, as there are many people (e.g. suicide bombers) whose evaluations of their long-term interest are significant outliers from other agents.
That’s right, but this exception (people whose interests are served by violating the moral norm) itself has a large exception, which is that throughout most of the suicide bomber’s life, he (rightly) respects the moral norm. Bad people can’t be bad every second of their lives—they have to behave themselves the vast majority of the time if for no other reason than to survive until the next opportunity to be bad. The suicide bomber has no interest in surviving once he presses the button, but for every second of his life prior to that, he has an interest in surviving.
And the would-be eventual suicide bomber also, through most of his life, has no choice but to enforce moral behavior in others if he wants to make it to his self-chosen appointment with death.
If we try to imagine someone who never respects recognizable norms—well, it’s hard to imagine, but for one thing they would probably make most “criminally insane” look perfectly normal and safe to be around by contrast.
Upvoted. The events you describe makes sense and your reasoning seems valid. Do you think, based upon any of our discussion, that we disagree on the substance of the issue in any way?
That’s right, but this exception (people whose interests are served by violating the moral norm) itself has a large exception, which is that throughout most of the suicide bomber’s life, he (rightly) respects the moral norm. Bad people can’t be bad every second of their lives—they have to behave themselves the vast majority of the time if for no other reason than to survive until the next opportunity to be bad. The suicide bomber has no interest in surviving once he presses the button, but for every second of his life prior to that, he has an interest in surviving.
And the would-be eventual suicide bomber also, through most of his life, has no choice but to enforce moral behavior in others if he wants to make it to his self-chosen appointment with death.
If we try to imagine someone who never respects recognizable norms—well, it’s hard to imagine, but for one thing they would probably make most “criminally insane” look perfectly normal and safe to be around by contrast.
Upvoted. The events you describe makes sense and your reasoning seems valid. Do you think, based upon any of our discussion, that we disagree on the substance of the issue in any way?
If so, what part of my map differs from yours?
I’m withholding judgment for now because I’m not sure if or where we differ on any specifics.