randallsquared comments on A wild theist platonist appears, to ask about the path - Less Wrong

7 Post author: Hang 08 May 2012 11:23AM

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Comment author: randallsquared 16 May 2012 01:09:36PM 0 points [-]

There are (at least) two meaning for "why ought we be moral":

  • "Why should an entity without goals choose to follow goals", or, more generally, "Why should an entity without goals choose [anything]",
  • and, "Why should an entity with a top level goal of X discard this in favor of a top level goal of Y."

I can imagine answers to the second question (it could be that explicitly replacing X with Y results in achieving X better than if you don't; this is one driver of extremism in many areas), but it seems clear that the first question admits of no attack.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 17 May 2012 01:41:38AM 2 points [-]

"Why should an entity without goals choose to follow goals", or, more generally, "Why should an entity without goals choose [anything]",

An entity without goals would not be reading Gauthier's book.