(July 23, 2015 at 7:16 pm)bennyboy Wrote:(July 23, 2015 at 12:35 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: I think it is an unreasonable belief to suppose that you have the capability to kill everyone, so Clifford and I are quite happy to condemn such an idea. (We would both condemn it for other reasons as well, but more than this one is unnecessary for the present purposes.)Does a moral idea really have to be associated with a statistical chance of success for it to be moral?
I think it depends on the context and what exactly you mean. But the belief that you can kill everyone, when the evidence strongly suggests that you cannot, is, in my opinion, immoral.
Now, the goal is a separate issue. If you want to kill everyone, that is a different thing from believing you can do it. I would judge that separately, and would inquire into why the person had such a desire.
(July 23, 2015 at 7:16 pm)bennyboy Wrote: I don't have an argument against that, except a flat rejection. I'd say that a person who thinks he can really kill everyone is delusional, and his morality or lack of it cannot be sensibly judged.
Do you think that believing things that are not supported by evidence is always delusional, or just in this particular case? If just in this particular case, what makes it special?
(July 23, 2015 at 7:16 pm)bennyboy Wrote: Anyway, let's say I think it's immoral to litter, and moral to pick up garbage, and so every day I pick up a little garbage. Would you argue that my behavior is the expression of an idea based on lack of sufficient evidence-- the idea that I could eventually pick up all the garbage in the world? I don't think that makes sense.
Do you mean that you believe you can pick it all up? I certainly would not jump to the conclusion that you believed that, if I saw you picking up some garbage. I would not suppose that someone must believe such a thing in order to pick up some garbage.
(July 23, 2015 at 7:16 pm)bennyboy Wrote: I think it's more correct to say that moral behaviors are the expression of oneself as the Archetypal Man-- that we behave in a way that, if all others also did, the world would achieve an ideal state (i.e. the moral vision).
I don't agree with that. If someone picks up some litter, they make the world a slightly better place. That is enough. When I return money to a cashier due to the cashier giving me too much change, I have no delusions about everyone else doing the same. Of course, I know many others will do the same, but not everyone will. My action is based on the idea that I feel it is right. It is not based on any expectations of what others will do. I would generally expect that those who pick up garbage likewise do so because they feel it is right, but I would not attribute to them the ridiculous idea that they believed that everyone else will do likewise. That is, not unless I had some reason to do so.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
