[extropy-chat] Re: (Ethics/Socio) Arrow of Morality

[Jef Allbright]

Dirk Bruere wrote:

> Jef Allbright wrote:
>
>>
>> More recently, with expanding awareness, moral rules (principles of 
>> what works) were codified:  The Golden Rule and its many variations; 
>> The Ten Commandments known to Christianity, Judaism and Islam; The 
>> Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path of Buddhism; and others.  
>> Many of these served to temper the rather harsh instinctive morality 
>> of the past, but were stated in strict absolute terms as suited the 
>> consciousness of the times.
>>
> There is a fundamental difference between the Eightfold Way and the 
> Ten Commandments that is seldo recognised.
> The former is about the path an individual should take in order to 
> eliminate (primarily) their own suffering. The TC are about social 
> interaction, cohesion and stability.
>
> Alone on a desert island the TC are pretty worthless, whereas the EW 
> is not.
>
Dirk -

Excellent point, and I did consider this before including it, but 
thought it contributed sufficiently in light of the rest of the 
east/west discussion to override the fact that it is in a different 
category.  As a second-order effect, following the eightfold way can be 
expected to facilitate social interactions.

- Jef