MathiasZaman comments on Does utilitarianism "require" extreme self sacrifice? If not why do people commonly say it does? - Less Wrong

7 Post author: Princess_Stargirl 09 December 2014 08:32AM

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Comment author: MathiasZaman 09 December 2014 11:26:29AM 2 points [-]

When other people say "X is moral", they mean "I will say that 'X is moral', and will occasionally do X"?

Knowing what is moral and acting on what is moral are two different things. Acting on what is moral is often hard, and people aren't known for their propensity to do hard things.

The divide between "I know what is moral" and "I act on what I know to be moral" exists in most moral theories with the possible exception (as far as I know, which isn't all that far) of egoism.