byrnema comments on Why didn't people (apparently?) understand the metaethics sequence? - Less Wrong

12 Post author: ChrisHallquist 29 October 2013 11:04PM

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Comment author: byrnema 30 October 2013 09:01:47PM *  0 points [-]

Yeah, these were just a couple examples. (I can also imagine feeling about babies the way I feel about mosquitos with malaria. Do I have an exceptionally good imagination? As the imagined feelings become more removed from reality, the examples must get more bizarre, but that is the way with counter-factuals.) But there being ready examples isn't the point. I am asked to consider that I have this value, and I can, there is no inherent contradiction.

Perhaps as you suggest, there is no p&-p contradiction because preserving the lives of babies is not a terminal value. And I should replace this example with an actual terminal value.

But herein lies a problem. Without objective morality, I'm pretty sure I don't have any terminal values -- everything depends on context. (I'm also not very certain what a terminal value would like if there was an objective morality.)