ETA: This could do with some more examples and some more boiling down, but I need to post it and sleep.
"This is wrong" and "this is a bad idea"
Because they sound similar, "this is wrong" and "this is a bad idea" are often confused. They sound similar, and are both things not to do, but I think there is a fundamental difference. "Harming other people is wrong" is a moral judgement. Whereas "too much ice-cream is a bad idea" is a heuristic: if given being unhealthy will be unpleasant or unfair on other people and given too much ice-cream then you can conclude that too much ice-cream will be ultimately unpleasant, even if nice in the short term.
The concept of utilitarianism began with (?) the insight that there WAS a difference. That some things are inherently harmful, but others _usually_ are and hence make good societal rules of thumb (aka "ethics") but stand to be re-evaluated in individual cases or if society changes[1].
( Read more... )
"This is wrong" and "this is a bad idea"
Because they sound similar, "this is wrong" and "this is a bad idea" are often confused. They sound similar, and are both things not to do, but I think there is a fundamental difference. "Harming other people is wrong" is a moral judgement. Whereas "too much ice-cream is a bad idea" is a heuristic: if given being unhealthy will be unpleasant or unfair on other people and given too much ice-cream then you can conclude that too much ice-cream will be ultimately unpleasant, even if nice in the short term.
The concept of utilitarianism began with (?) the insight that there WAS a difference. That some things are inherently harmful, but others _usually_ are and hence make good societal rules of thumb (aka "ethics") but stand to be re-evaluated in individual cases or if society changes[1].
( Read more... )