I predict the next sign to read 'Do As You're Told'...
Quite interesting actually, as I've recently been having a discussion with my friend Pavel about morality. I'm not really sure whether his position is that morality is some kind of sham or just that you don't have reasons to comply/be motivated without enforcement, but having just re-read Machiavelli's Prince I was reminded of it.
UPDATE: Another similar example over at CT.
My position is that morals are exactly like laws: people break them when benefits outweight costs multiplied by the probability of being caught and persecuted, ostracised, hated, laughed at, etc. As laws differ between countries, so do morals. Hence, there is no such thing as 'morality'. Rather, there are many morals which often coincide but sometimes compete with each other. It's as easy as that.
ReplyDeletePavel, your views sound more like those of Thrasymachus than Machiavelli to me, but ben is the Plato expert.
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