[ExI] Morality function, self-correcting moral systems?

[Anders Sandberg]

Stefano Vaj wrote:
> On 13 December 2011 22:43, Anders Sandberg <anders at aleph.se 
> <mailto:anders at aleph.se>> wrote:
>
>     Also, I have a hypothesis that all human based organisations
>     (societies) I know of are immoral.
>
>     I think this is a pretty safe assumption that few ethicists would
>     deny.
>
>
> I probably do not qualify as an "ethicist", but you are IMHO way too 
> optimistic about that... :-)
>
> Societies are almost invariably highly moral (and moralistic), they 
> have very complicate and evolving sets of social rules, and they 
> invariably do their best to rewards and enforce compliance, as well as 
> to repress and marginalise individual and collective deviancy.

I was using the term immoral in the sense "against the correct morality 
(if any)". Any moral realist will typically think that society and 
individuals tend to fall short of correct moral behavior, no matter what 
their theory is. Meta-ethical relativists might think that the truth or 
falsity of moral judgements is not objective, but that doesn't imply 
that they automatically become nihilists, and again whatever their 
theory is it is unlikely they think society follows it well. Ethical 
subjectivists might say that morality is all about attitudes, but we 
know societies and individuals do not behave consistent with their own 
attitudes.

There is certainly a lot of moralizing and attempts at moral behavior 
going on, but it is a rare ethicist who thinks most of it is correctly 
done.

-- 
Anders Sandberg,
Future of Humanity Institute 
Oxford Martin School 
Faculty of Philosophy 
Oxford University