By the way, what exactly do you mean by “arbitrary” and “non-arbitrary”? I am asking because the homo sapiens species itself is in some sense “arbitrary”—do we want the result to be equally attractive for humans and space spiders, or is it okay if it is merely attractive for humans?
My opinions is that while it would be a nice coincidence if my moral system would also happen to be attractive for the space spiders, I actually care about humans. Not even all humans equally, for example I wouldn’t care too much if e.g. psychopaths would decide that my moral system seems too arbitrary for them.
But then, considering the space spiders (and human spiders), there seem to be two different questions here: how would I define “morality” for agents more or less like myself, and how would I define “optimal rules for peaceful coexistence” for agents completely unlike myself.
I refuse to use the word “morality” for the latter, because depending on the nature of the space spiders, the optimal outcome could still be something quite horrifying for the average human. But in some sense it would be less “arbitrary”.
By the way, what exactly do you mean by “arbitrary” and “non-arbitrary”? I am asking because the homo sapiens species itself is in some sense “arbitrary”—do we want the result to be equally attractive for humans and space spiders, or is it okay if it is merely attractive for humans?
My opinions is that while it would be a nice coincidence if my moral system would also happen to be attractive for the space spiders, I actually care about humans. Not even all humans equally, for example I wouldn’t care too much if e.g. psychopaths would decide that my moral system seems too arbitrary for them.
But then, considering the space spiders (and human spiders), there seem to be two different questions here: how would I define “morality” for agents more or less like myself, and how would I define “optimal rules for peaceful coexistence” for agents completely unlike myself.
I refuse to use the word “morality” for the latter, because depending on the nature of the space spiders, the optimal outcome could still be something quite horrifying for the average human. But in some sense it would be less “arbitrary”.