Alicorn comments on White Lies - Less Wrong

38 Post author: ChrisHallquist 08 February 2014 01:20AM

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Comment author: jazmt 17 February 2014 03:36:27AM -1 points [-]

Why don't you view the consequentialist imperative to always seek maximum utility as a deontological rule? If it isn't deontological where does it come from?

Comment author: Alicorn 17 February 2014 06:53:30AM 1 point [-]

To me, it looks like consequentialists care exclusively about prudence, which I also care about, and not at all about morality, which I also care about. It looks to me like the thing consequentialists call morality just is prudence and comes from the same places prudence comes from - wanting things, appreciating the nature of cause and effect, etc.

Comment author: jazmt 18 February 2014 01:56:00AM 1 point [-]

Thank you for all of your clarifications, I think I now understand how you are viewing morality.

Comment author: SaidAchmiz 17 February 2014 07:08:30AM 0 points [-]

Could you elaborate on what this thing you call "morality" is?

To me, it seems like the "morality" that deontology aspires to be, or to represent / capture, doesn't actually exist, and thus deontology fails on its own criterion. Consequentialism also fails in this sense, of course, but consequentialism does not actually attempt to work as the sort of "morality" you seem to be referring to.