Lara_Foster comments on Setting Up Metaethics - Less Wrong

13 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 28 July 2008 02:25AM

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

Comments (33)

Sort By: Old

You are viewing a single comment's thread.

Comment author: Lara_Foster 28 July 2008 10:36:44PM 0 points [-]

Oh- back on topic, I think the exploration of metemorality will need to include people who are only softly sociopathic but not 'brain damaged'. Here is an example: An ex-boy-friend of mine claimed to have an 'empathy switch,' by which he had complete and total empathy with the few chosen people he cared about, and complete zero empathy with everyone else. To him, killing millions of people half-way around the world in order to get a super-tasty toasted pastrami and cheese sandwich would be a no-brainer. Kill the mother fuckers! He didn't know them before, he won't know them afterwards, what difference does it make? The sandwich on the other hand... well, that will be a fond memory indeed! I think many people actually live by this moral code, but are simply to dishonest with themselves to admit it. What says metemorality to that???