Quote Originally Posted by Montmorency View Post
I like it precisely because it evicts all of this moral distortion. A false fact is a lie, indeed.
So you like things simple...hmm.

or "undistorted" sorry.

Quote Originally Posted by Montmorency View Post
And so individuals, to ascertain virtue, must acquire and examine personal experience? I don't see how it is not one. Is this too laborious for your tastes or something?
Tensions are not something to be avoided

People should be charitable but they should look after themselves and those close to them...it's a powerful tension. There is no rational, objective, systematic way to decide which is right in a situation. Oftentimes there is no clear answer. Systematic, rule based moral codes seek to avoid that tension, and that is their problem:

1) Being selfish is a vice
2) Being selfish is good; charity is not a virtue

Some people believe these or say they do, but they are too blunt and extreme for most.The utilitarian "resolution" is just smoke and mirrors. If we should create the maximum well being, then we should be dedicating our lives to helping the 3rd world. That's too much like (1) for most people, so they come up with some argument or rationalization to get out of it while preserving their belief that they are a utilitarian.

We should not tell ourselves that we've resolved the tension, that we have a clear cut, consistent, rational, logical moral system.


I'm not sure if this sounds like a non-sequitur to you but I think we're talking past each other with this rule stuff. A belief is not a rule.