I just came across this old comment by Wei Dai which has aged well, for unfortunate reasons.
I think a healthy dose of moral uncertainty (and normative uncertainty in general) is really important to have, because it seems pretty easy for any ethical/social movement to become fanatical or to incur a radical element, and end up doing damage to itself, its members, or society at large. (“The road to hell is paved with good intentions” and all that.)
I think there’s something off about the view that we need to be uncertain about morality to not become fanatic maniacs who are a danger to other people. It’s perfectly possible to have firm/confident moral views that are respectful of other people having different life goals from one’s own. Just don’t be a moral realist utilitarian. The problem is moral realism + utilitarianism, not having confident takes on your morality.
Another way to say this is that it seems dangerously fragile if the only reason one doesn’t become a maniac is moral uncertainty. What if you feel like you’re becoming increasingly confident about some moral view? It tends to happen to people.
I just came across this old comment by Wei Dai which has aged well, for unfortunate reasons.
I think there’s something off about the view that we need to be uncertain about morality to not become fanatic maniacs who are a danger to other people. It’s perfectly possible to have firm/confident moral views that are respectful of other people having different life goals from one’s own. Just don’t be a moral realist utilitarian. The problem is moral realism + utilitarianism, not having confident takes on your morality.
Another way to say this is that it seems dangerously fragile if the only reason one doesn’t become a maniac is moral uncertainty. What if you feel like you’re becoming increasingly confident about some moral view? It tends to happen to people.
Strong agree—there are so many ways to go off the rails even if you’re prioritizing being super humble and weak[1]
“weak” i.e. in the usage “strong views weakly held”