Tsujigiri comments on Disguised Queries - Less Wrong

57 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 09 February 2008 12:05AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (104)

Sort By: Old

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Ezekiel 18 December 2011 07:17:09PM 1 point [-]

Direct counterargument: I would phrase my attitude to ethics as: "I have decided that I want X to happen as much as possible, and Y to happen as little as possible." I'm not "believing" anything - just stating goals. So there's no faith required.

Reflective counterargument: But even if God did say so*, why should we obey Him? There are a number of answers, some based on prior moral concepts (gratitude for Creation, fear of Hell, etc.) and some on a new one (variations on "God is God and therefore has moral authority") but they all just push the issue of your ultimate basis for morality back a step. They don't solve the problem, or even simplify it.

*Incidentally, what does it mean for an all-powerful being to say something? The Abrahamic God is the cause for literally everything, so aren't all instructions written or spoken anywhere by anyone equally "the speech of God"?

Comment author: Tsujigiri 18 December 2011 08:40:03PM *  0 points [-]

Direct counterargument: I would phrase my attitude to ethics as: "I have decided that I want X to happen as much as possible, and Y to happen as little as possible." I'm not "believing" anything - just stating goals. So there's no faith required.

I'd agree. By switching from morals to your individual preferences, you avoid the need to identify what is objectively good and evil.