(March 9, 2017 at 9:15 pm)bennyboy Wrote: Yeah, the idea depends on the "existence" of a hypothetical best act, upon which an individual's attempts to act might sometimes stumble. In particular binary situations-- for example, kill someone or show mercy, you'd expect to have a 50% chance to get it right, but not to have knowledge yourself of whether you did. Thus the existence of alternative fiction novels where killing Hitler dooms the Earth, or saving Kennedy causes a revolution, etc.Moral opportunism creates those "hypothetical best acts", it does not depend on their existence. They are created by assessing what acts would present the greatest opportunity to an individual or group. In the case of your example, selective advantage or fitness.
Quote:I'd define the maximally beneficial behavior as the perfect behavior.Defining them interchangeably means we can do away with one of them. Could the extermination of all lesser intelligence be a selectively optimal but immoral behavior? Similarly, couldn't a provision against killing of any kind be a moral and also selectively deleterious behavior?
Quote:This is a very interesting situation, isn't it? Usually we are on opposite sides of this kind of discussion. I've enjoyed this thread for that reason-- playing Devil's Advocate is fun.Opposite sides?
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
