Re the “EAs should not should” debate about whether we can use the word “should” which pops up occasionally, most recently on the “university groups need fixing”.
My take is that you can use “should/ought” as long as your target audience has sufficiently grappled with meta-ethics and both parties are clear about what ethical system you are using.
“Should” (to an anti-realist) is shorthand for (the best action under X moral framework). I don’t mind it being used in this context (though I agree with ozzies previous shortform on this that it seems unnecessarily binary), but it’s problematic using this word around people you don’t know or non-philosophy heads. It’s completely absurd to tell an 18-year-old or anyone else who doesn’t know what utilitarianism and virtue ethics are that they “should” do anything, and if they believe you, then you tricked them into that view (unless you are a moral realist, which I think is also absurd).
If your target audience does not know what the is-ought problem is, it’s better to stick to output-based cost-benefit and not enter into this “cause agnostic” tier list type thing since inter-output rankings rely on arbitrary metaethical functions that aren’t well-known by most or standardized for quick and reliable reference.
However among my friends, we use should all the time because we know what generally mean (our relatively shared utilitarian-ish meta-ethical worldview), and we feel comfortable clarifying this if it seems to be the crux of the debate. But at this point, should loses all of its emotional oomph and maybe it’s just not worth the hassle to shorthand a 7-word sentence.
Re the “EAs should not should” debate about whether we can use the word “should” which pops up occasionally, most recently on the “university groups need fixing”.
My take is that you can use “should/ought” as long as your target audience has sufficiently grappled with meta-ethics and both parties are clear about what ethical system you are using.
“Should” (to an anti-realist) is shorthand for (the best action under X moral framework). I don’t mind it being used in this context (though I agree with ozzies previous shortform on this that it seems unnecessarily binary), but it’s problematic using this word around people you don’t know or non-philosophy heads. It’s completely absurd to tell an 18-year-old or anyone else who doesn’t know what utilitarianism and virtue ethics are that they “should” do anything, and if they believe you, then you tricked them into that view (unless you are a moral realist, which I think is also absurd).
If your target audience does not know what the is-ought problem is, it’s better to stick to output-based cost-benefit and not enter into this “cause agnostic” tier list type thing since inter-output rankings rely on arbitrary metaethical functions that aren’t well-known by most or standardized for quick and reliable reference.
However among my friends, we use should all the time because we know what generally mean (our relatively shared utilitarian-ish meta-ethical worldview), and we feel comfortable clarifying this if it seems to be the crux of the debate. But at this point, should loses all of its emotional oomph and maybe it’s just not worth the hassle to shorthand a 7-word sentence.