XiXiDu comments on What is Metaethics? - Less Wrong
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I agree with most of this. The only reason for using the word morality is when talking to someone who does not realize that "Whatever you want." is the only answer that really can be given to the question of "What should I do next?". (Does that sentence make sense?)
The main thing I have to add to this is what Eliezer describes here. The causal 'reason' that I want people to be happy is because of the desires in my brain, but the motivational 'reason' is because happiness matches {happiness + survival + justice + individuality + ...}, which sounds stupid, but that is how I make decisions; I look for what best matches against that pattern. These two reasons are important to distinguish - "If neutrinos make me believe '2 + 3 = 6', then 2 + 3 = 5". Here, people use that world 'morality' to describe an idealized version of their decision processes rather than to describe the desires embodied in their brain in order to emphasize that point, and also because of the large number of people that find this pseudo-equivalence nonobvious.
If you are confused about facts in the world then you are talking about epistemic rationality, why would one invoke 'morality' in this context?
I'm not sure I understand this. Are you objecting to my use of the word 'idealized', on the grounds that preferences and facts are different things and uncertainty is about facts? I would disagree with that. Someone might have two conflicting but very strong preferences. For example, someone might be opposed to homosexuality based on a feeling of disgust but also have a strong feeling that people should have some sort of right to self-determination. Upon sufficient thought, they may decide that the latter outweighs the former and may stop feeling disgust at homosexuals as a result of that introspection. I believe that this situation is one that occurs regularly among humans.