There is no justice in the laws of Nature… no term for fairness in the equations of motion. The universe is neither evil, nor good, it simply does not care. The stars don’t care, or the Sun, or the sky. But they don’t have to! We care! There is light in the world, and it is us!
This reminds me of the video trailer (complete with a soundtrack by Talking Heads and Muse!) I made for “desire utilitarianism” aka “desirism,” a version of moral sentimentalism I held at the time. (My latest thoughts on desirism are here.)
This seems like a reference to a quote by Stanley Kubrick:
The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent, but if we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.
Or, possibly, a quote by Richard Dawkins in Garden out of Eden:
The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.
I like Harry’s poetic exposition of moral sentimentalism in chapter 39:
This reminds me of the video trailer (complete with a soundtrack by Talking Heads and Muse!) I made for “desire utilitarianism” aka “desirism,” a version of moral sentimentalism I held at the time. (My latest thoughts on desirism are here.)
This seems like a reference to a quote by Stanley Kubrick:
Or, possibly, a quote by Richard Dawkins in Garden out of Eden: