{"id":1368,"date":"2018-06-08T15:51:55","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T15:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=1368"},"modified":"2018-06-11T12:30:53","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T12:30:53","slug":"collective-morality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/morality\/collective-morality","title":{"rendered":"Collective Morality"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>This is not about any concrete \u2018habits and rules of moral behavior.\u2019 Collective morality is about the thinking about such habits and rules. It should be based on rationality as much as possible.<\/h3>\n<blockquote><p><strong>This rationality should be founded on two endeavors<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>as always when rationality is optimally exercised:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>taking into account as much as possible all relevant factors, <em>including emotional ones<\/em><\/li>\n<li>being as logical as possible in combining these factors in strains of reasoning, avoiding biases and all other kinds of \u2018errors of reasoning\u2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Of course, there is always the \u2018box\u2019 in which this takes place.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>in case of collective morality, this box mainly consists of the final goal.<\/p>\n<p>To be sure, this is <em>not<\/em> a kind of \u2018moral imperative\u2019 to which all individual morality should comply, such as \u201cdo to others what you want others to do to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To me, personally \u2013 thus: subjectively \u2013 such final goal may be the \u2018relief of suffering\u2019 in a <em>very<\/em> broad sense, including depth. [see \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=952\">Morality Is the Relief of Suffering<\/a>\u2019]. \u2018Broad\u2019 in this also means: to all humans, even all \u2018sentient beings\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Does this resolve into a simple summation (and comparison) of all suffering, or relief of the same, as is done in \u2018utilitarianism\u2019?<\/p>\n<p>Yes and no.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Rationality is not a belief system, therefore it\u2019s never perfect.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The main reason for &#8216;yes and no&#8217; is the existence \u2013 especially in morality \u2013 of many factors that just are too fuzzy and context-dependent to be able to work with in a strictly logical system (such as \u2018propositional logic\u2019 or \u2018first-degree predicate logic\u2019). This is the result of living in a very open world. While it\u2019s theoretically possible to conceive \/ imagine a purely rational collective set of rules which maximize utilities, it\u2019s practically impossible (\u2018intractable\u2019). But: we don\u2019t need to be able to reach it in order to strive for it (at cultural level). We should not abandon the latter because of the former.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>So: utilitarian? Collectively: yes.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With lots of logical thinking and acknowledging many severe difficulties, mainly in how to validate:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>human life<\/li>\n<li>happiness<\/li>\n<li>any effort of striving for depth<\/li>\n<li>expansion of consciousness<\/li>\n<li>the \u2018well-being\u2019 of a group<\/li>\n<li>in-group human life\/happiness versus the out-group<\/li>\n<li>any risk on war<\/li>\n<li>well-being of other species<\/li>\n<li>well-being of future generations<\/li>\n<li>well-being of future A.I.<\/li>\n<li>etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Hopeless?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It may seem so. But again: the goal is in the striving.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Collective morality is also about motivation of the individual.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>No use in just telling someone what to do. Motivation is always \u2018inner\u2019 [see \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=31\">There are no extrinsic or intrinsic motivations<\/a>\u2019] but responsibility lies for a big part in the support. Like in case of a plant, growing by itself, yet needing sunshine, water, nutrients\u2026 which are the gardener\u2019s responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>As factors of motivation towards a humane kind of moral behavior \u2013 not the one that leads to depression for instance, or to a diminishment of gently strong sensitivity \u2013 guilt and shame are second-best [see &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog?p=1382\">Moral Motivation<\/a>&#8216;]. Coercion is not even motivation.<\/p>\n<p>True motivation is done by touching a person deeply inside\u00a0in a way that at the same time heightens a person\u2019s Stressional Intelligence [see that category].<\/p>\n<p>Easy? No. Efficient? Absolutely!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div data-object_id=\"1368\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkwrap cbxwpbkmarkwrap_no_cat cbxwpbkmarkwrap-post \"><a  data-redirect-url=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\"  data-display-label=\"0\" data-show-count=\"0\" data-bookmark-label=\" \"  data-bookmarked-label=\" \"  data-loggedin=\"0\" data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"1368\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig  cbxwpbkmarktrig-button-addto\" title=\"Bookmark This\" href=\"#\"><span class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig-label\"  style=\"display:none;\" > <\/span><\/a> <div  data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"1368\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap\" id=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap-1368\"><div class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguest-message\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguesttrig_close\"><\/a><h3 class=\"cbxwpbookmark-title cbxwpbookmark-title-login\">Please login to bookmark<\/h3>\n\t\t<form name=\"loginform\" id=\"loginform\" action=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-login.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-username\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_login\">Username or Email Address<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-password\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-remember\"><label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label><\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-submit\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button button-primary\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is not about any concrete \u2018habits and rules of moral behavior.\u2019 Collective morality is about the thinking about such habits and rules. It should be based on rationality as much as possible. This rationality should be founded on two endeavors as always when rationality is optimally exercised: taking into account as much as possible <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/morality\/collective-morality\">Read the full article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-object_id=\"1368\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkwrap cbxwpbkmarkwrap_no_cat cbxwpbkmarkwrap-post \"><a  data-redirect-url=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\"  data-display-label=\"0\" data-show-count=\"0\" data-bookmark-label=\" \"  data-bookmarked-label=\" \"  data-loggedin=\"0\" data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"1368\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig  cbxwpbkmarktrig-button-addto\" title=\"Bookmark This\" href=\"#\"><span class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig-label\"  style=\"display:none;\" > <\/span><\/a> <div  data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"1368\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap\" id=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap-1368\"><div class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguest-message\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguesttrig_close\"><\/a><h3 class=\"cbxwpbookmark-title cbxwpbookmark-title-login\">Please login to bookmark<\/h3>\n\t\t<form name=\"loginform\" id=\"loginform\" action=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-login.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-username\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_login\">Username or Email Address<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-password\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-remember\"><label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label><\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-submit\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button button-primary\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/174.jpg?fit=960%2C557&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Fdiq-m4","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1368"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1392,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\/revisions\/1392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}