Moral Oughts

[GrandizerII]

I don't think it's just simply about goals. It's about conditioning as well, about one's attitude towards these matters, about one's ideals, and so on.

I ought not to steal someone else's wallet for one of many potential reasons including (1) I would feel like shit if I were to do so (2) I'll be worried that karma will bite me in the ass one day and someone else will steal my wallet (3) if I get caught, I'll be arrested and taken to jail, my reputation will go down, my employer will fire me, my fiancee will hate me, other repercussions that may result from doing so, (4) I have an ounce of empathy (5) I had my wallet stolen once so I know how it would feel to have someone else's wallet stolen (6) I stand for property & intellectual rights and other human rights, etc.

All of that indicates to me how you derived the ought here, but not about the nature of the ought.

I might say that using the same bases, I perceive an ought, that I see as an objective truth.

I’m just trying to understand whether someone like yourself, sees it more as assigning yourself a subjective goal/ought.

I might explain to you why I don’t like eating crabs, ie because I’m disgusted by the texture, it makes my throat itch, I had a bad experience with it when I was a kid, but I can indicate that my dislike of it is subjective.

I don't like the objective vs. subjective question because the cutting line between them can be fuzzy as hell.

The selection itself, I would say, is subjective to the person. The reasons, however, are based on predictions or observed facts.