PhilGoetz comments on Separate morality from free will - Less Wrong

6 Post author: PhilGoetz 10 April 2011 02:35AM

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Comment author: Will_Sawin 10 April 2011 03:14:50AM 0 points [-]

It seems like the right perspective to think about things goes something like this:

Facts about the world can be good or bad. It is good, for instance, when people are happy and healthy, and bad when they are not.

  1. It is bad that Alice fell and hit her head.
  2. It is bad that Bob, due to dizziness, stumbled and hit his head.
  3. It is bad that Carol, due to a sudden bout of violent behavior, momentarily decided to punch Dan in the head.
  4. It is bad that Erin carried out a plan over a period of weeks to punch Fred in the head.

These are all pretty much equally bad, but 4 and possibly 3 are also someone's responsibility, and therefore morality is involved.

Some facts about the world are some people's responsibility. These seem to be some fraction of the facts that are true about their brain - yes 4 but not 2. Good things that are people's responsibility are moral in a different sense than good things that are not people's responsibility.

but this responsibility is philosophically very fuzzy and mostly isn't a useful concept.

Comment author: PhilGoetz 10 April 2011 03:29:32AM 0 points [-]

What you're saying is true, but doesn't touch on the distinction that the post is about. The post contrasts two positions, both of which would agree with everything you just said.

Comment author: Will_Sawin 10 April 2011 05:34:43PM 0 points [-]

It's a step on the way to dissolve or pseudo-dissolve the question.