joe, “utter chaos and destruction leading to the downfall of the human race” is not a contradiction. I assert that it cannot be objectively known that this outcome is “bad”. Some of the more extreme environmentalists would assert it is a good thing, and some alien species might think of it in the same manner as we might think of eradicating smallpox. Furthermore, as I do not think morality is objective, I do not feel my beliefs need to be universalizable. My belief in a certain nature of morality is not going to cause the rest of humanity to share that belief, discussing what would happen if everyone shared it would be like wondering about waking up with a blue tentacle.
Eliezer, you (and Worley) say “Morality is objective within a given frame of reference.” What is the difference between that and “morality is subjective”? It seems each frame of reference is itself subjective, we can never really know whether any two individuals share the same frame of reference (I do not think even an individual keeps the same frame of reference consistently for any considerable length of time). Do you think that aesthetic beauty or value are also objective “within a given frame of reference”, or are they of a different nature than morality?
joe, “utter chaos and destruction leading to the downfall of the human race” is not a contradiction. I assert that it cannot be objectively known that this outcome is “bad”. Some of the more extreme environmentalists would assert it is a good thing, and some alien species might think of it in the same manner as we might think of eradicating smallpox. Furthermore, as I do not think morality is objective, I do not feel my beliefs need to be universalizable. My belief in a certain nature of morality is not going to cause the rest of humanity to share that belief, discussing what would happen if everyone shared it would be like wondering about waking up with a blue tentacle.
Eliezer, you (and Worley) say “Morality is objective within a given frame of reference.” What is the difference between that and “morality is subjective”? It seems each frame of reference is itself subjective, we can never really know whether any two individuals share the same frame of reference (I do not think even an individual keeps the same frame of reference consistently for any considerable length of time). Do you think that aesthetic beauty or value are also objective “within a given frame of reference”, or are they of a different nature than morality?