The Demands of Morality
John Perry

21 November 2015

本周我们的话题是《道德要求》——道德生活是否会增加或减少生活的美好。

对某些人来说，答案似乎显而易见。当你做道德的事时，你就是在做正确的事。违反道德就是做错误的事情。做正确的事是好事;做错事是坏事。当你做道德的事情时，你总是会做得更好，生活得更好。

But imagine the following scenario. Suppose you live in a country full of tax cheats, but you’re honest to the bone and you dutifully pay your taxes. What does that make you -- a saint among sinners, or a sucker? How does doing the right thing improve your life?

Well, if morality is partly about how people are to livetogether, maybe it doesn’t require us to be absolutely honest when everybody else is being dishonest. But how far are we willing to go with that line? Does morality sanction a little stealing, or maybe a touch of random killing, if enough other people are into that sort of thing? What’s the bottom line?

In the case of something milder like tax-cheating, you might feel torn. You don't claim to be a saint. You don’t want to cheat, but you also don’t want to be a high-minded fool, either. It puts you in a pretty pickle: you want morality to be your guide to life, but it’s not giving you much guidance now.

现在你可能会说，偷税的情况在道德上是荒谬的，幸运的是，我们并不总是面临这样糟糕的选择。但如果道德只在道德不扭曲的情况下起作用，它就不是一个很好的指导。我们可以从成本和收益的角度来考虑:道德生活可以有它的收益，但也可以有它的成本。当你权衡道德生活的代价和一点点不道德的好处时，道德生活有时会走到尽头。但有些人会说，这种思考方式是错误的，因为道德本身就是一种奖励。它对我们的影响远远超过任何一种成本效益分析。

Now consider a little thought experiment to test out that hypothesis. Suppose I’ve got a magical ring, which I’m going to give to you. Only you know about it. Only you can use it. Whenever you wear it, you’ll be invisible, in fact completely undetectable. With it you are absolutely free to do whatever you want, whenever you want, with no worries about getting caught -- no worries about sullying your impeccable reputation for moral uprightness. Would you take my ring? Would you use it to satisfy your most secret, most forbidden desires? Or would you refuse it?

That's a thought experiment borrowed from Plato. He thought that however much immorality mayappeartobenefityou and morality might appear toburdenyou, it is always better –- intrinsically better, immeasurably better -- to do the moral thing. So Plato would turn down the ring -- but in the name of what? Some misguided ideal of moral perfection? To win the favor of others? Out of sheer cowardice, perhaps?

Well, probably out of a concern for his own soul and its well-being. As the old saying goes: it profits a man nothing to gain the world but lose his soul. If that makes me sound like a Pollyanna, then consider Nietzsche, who dismissesed morality as a herd instinct and says that only weaker natures allow themselves to be guided by morality. We may not want to go that far, but it still may not be obvious that living well requires that we always do what morality commands. There are a lot more factors that go into to a well-lived life than morality alone.

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Comments(12)

Guest's picture

Guest

Sunday, April 28, 2013 -- 5:00 PM

You can ignore N.N. Taleb, if

You can ignore N.N. Taleb, if you wish. Many folks dislike him immensely, and actively seek to discredit his body of work. But, with his ANTIFRAGILE: THINGS THAT GAIN FROM DISORDER, he has established himself as an intellect, and, a philosopher. His Triad: Fragile; Robust; and Antifragile is a foundation, deceptive in its simplicity, yet elegant for any thinking individual who has read his book. Taleb debunks all of those who might assert morality-based lives, without (as far as I can recall) even using the word. Well. Those who are interested may read the book. Those who have a contrary agenda may do all they wish to suppress it. Taleb won't mind. His position is, in his word: Antifragile.

Guest's picture

Guest

Monday, April 29, 2013 -- 5:00 PM

I certainly hope a certain

我当然希望某个大公司不要因为你侵犯版权而追你。但是，我想你已经考虑过了，并且以某种方式和他们达成了一些协议。无论如何，你可能还没注意到，如今道德已经没什么吸引力了。各种各样的作家，无论是写专栏的权威人士，还是讲伟大哲学故事的人，都试图对冷漠的公众进行道德说教。但是，用著名电视节目《生活的色彩》(in Living Colour)的创始人之一的不朽(?)的话来说:“我不这么认为——Homey不演那个。”
There are all kinds of reasons for moral apathy. Some are electronic; some, self-indulgent (see also: electronic);
and some defy any categorization whatsoever. And so, consider this notion, if you may: there are no (longer) moral demands---no, uh, moral imperative. No one has "skin in the game." Moreover, no one wants to.
This is why I enjoy working wood. It is warm---life-like in the best sense. And it cannot lie.

Guest's picture

Guest

Monday, April 29, 2013 -- 5:00 PM

There is a story of a banking

There is a story of a banking executive who, as preliminary to a promotion, had lunch with other banking executives. By the time he got back to his office, Security had packed up his personal belongings and he had been packaged out.
What had he done to deserve such treatment?
根据这个故事，他最大的道德过失是把一些放在桌子上和咖啡一起用的糖包放进了口袋。首席执行官随即离开了桌子，打了一个决定命运的电话。
Now consider the millions the banking executives pocketed while engineering the Great Recession of 2008 and then again soon after they were rescued with the aid of public funds. Hyper-morality is a bludgeon used by the powerful against the weaker.
I am not arguing against morality but against hypocrisy. Character is ultimately something to value.

Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Wednesday, May 1, 2013 -- 5:00 PM

The question is: does living

The question is: does living morally add to or detract from a life, period/question mark, period

Guest's picture

Guest

Thursday, May 2, 2013 -- 5:00 PM

I agree with Plato that it is

I agree with Plato that it is always better to do do the moral thing in spite of the benefits immortality may promise

mirugai's picture

mirugai

Thursday, May 2, 2013 -- 5:00 PM

PERUSING MORALITY

PERUSING MORALITY
在研究道德(哲学的一个难题)时，有三个很好的工具可以使用。
他们是1。定义,2。解释,和3。投机。
Definition: We must decide if we are talking ?social,? i.e. some consensus of a group that it is good to enforce some rule; or, ?personal,? in which an individual knows independent of the group he/she is a member of, that it is ?good? and ?right.?
Explanation: The contribution of scientific processes: what practices and beliefs are necessary for survival, for health, for physical success. Then these are codified by investing them with an almost mystical, magical significance.
思辩:无止境的思辩是哲学的领域。什么是本能?道德中有本能的东西吗?在与德里达的一对一谈话中，我问他是否接受解构主义的前提，是否可以想象(不可能的)象征主义、参考和隐喻的终结或缺失，作为人类剩下的将是什么。他说我?我不确定，你说呢?在这一点上我不能引用我的话，但我认为这有点像公正。我推测，道德，?所有的意义和形式，都可能是德里达所说的那种与生俱来的正义的一种表达。

MJA's picture

MJA

Friday, May 3, 2013 -- 5:00 PM

道德和真理。

道德和真理。
Equality or truth is self-evident, and once its been found it must be practiced or lived.
Living the good life is more simple and less demanding when One understands that All is truly One.
To be good to the planet, to Nature, to One another is truly to be good to Oneself, and that makes the Way the only Way to be. To be or not to be, there is no question in me.
Just be,
=

mirugai's picture

mirugai

Friday, May 3, 2013 -- 5:00 PM

I can't resist saying

I can't resist saying something more about methodology re this subject. Sorry to be so verbose.
MORALITY
希腊人不?我不会用道德这个词，他们转而谈论美德(我的意思是说，写作被视为诡辩的主张，真理是通过挑战，即对话得到的)?very interesting, the distinction, in light of what follows:
考虑到一些客观的道德概念，我认为道德也有一个非常主观的。Lipman想要编纂(也就是说，把宗教的领域拿出来)仅仅因为他没有?i don’我不喜欢宗教(美德而不是道德。他可能指的是最基本的黄金法则:(更恰当地说)你希望别人如何对待你，你就如何对待别人。不要对别人做你不会做的事?i don’我不想对你下手。试着把这样的事情立法，我不?我没有任何问题。尽管它更像是一份我们都同意遵守的社会契约，以换取保护和商业。
The Greeks said virtue (i.e., being good) was basically forming habits of good judgment and behavior. Greek ?morality? was composed of knowledge and practice: think how much you have to know about history, science, psychology, biology to know what is truly good, and then think how you can practice behavior (practice in both senses of PREPARING and DOING) based on that knowledge. You have to INITIATE; you have to take ACTION; you are not moral if you just sit there and think, ?This defines the good.? The Greeks called it ?right action.?
To the extent morality is what I am calling ?subjective,? it is founded on ?belief.? This is a subject I have done much much philosophical work on. For very good reasons, humans (and probably animals) are compelled to various beliefs. Because everyone naturally wants to ?say what is right and what is good.? And golden rule morality is obvious and objective (there are exceptions, see Nietzsche); to say what is right and good about subjective matters, is based in belief. These are the moral issues we debate and disagree about, and fight wars and kill over.
What is always most interesting about ?morality,? after ?where does morality come from,? is ?which moralities are objective and which can we call subjective.? I did a study of ?fear?; think about what part of your fears are real, and what part imagined. What moralities are ?real,? and what are ?imagined.?
最适用于这些问题的道德哲学家是:彼得·辛格(Peter Singer)。他是动物道德哲学家)，伯纳德·威廉姆斯(最近去世;牛津大学道德哲学系主任)。在这一切之上的是:希腊人、实用主义者、宗教、尼采(他写了《道德谱系》一书)和德里达的正义论。

Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Friday, May 3, 2013 -- 5:00 PM

Mirugai:

Mirugai:
Seems to make good sense to me. Morality and justice are certainly linked, though sometimes in our modernity the connexion gets blurry. I really should read Derrida.
Warmest, Neuman.

Guest's picture

Guest

Tuesday, May 28, 2013 -- 5:00 PM

Now, I think I get it. This

Now, I think I get it. This blog is largely (if not mostly) about assisting you with developing curricula. Should have gotten that long ago. I guess this is why you have doctorates---and I don't. I'll stick with what I know. Thanks for the print time...

Harold G. Neuman's picture

Harold G. Neuman

Friday, November 27, 2015 -- 4:00 PM

I am always fascinated by

I am always fascinated by linkages and connections. Jung referred to something he called synchronicity, which seems to embody some aspects of a linkage/connection-oriented world. Many years ago (the 1970s, to be more precise), I read some books by a Robert Monroe, concerning what he said were out-of-body experiences he had had over some period of time. Entertaining and thought-provoking stuff, and, I was young and impressionable-ever searching for new frontiers and ideas. In one book (the first or second, I think), Monroe set forth a sort of credo regarding his thoughts about morality, life-after-death, good and bad, and so on. Fast forward to 2015 and Tom Campbell's My Big TOE (Theory-of-Everything). Campbell, it seems, knew Monroe and even conducted some research (with Bob Monroe's assistance) into the notion of life-after-death.
I won't go into a huge discussion of all this coincidence-any who are curious may research and read Monroe and/or Campbell for themselves. I will, in closing, say only this much: Morality can work to one's advantage, depending upon what best meets one's needs for comfort and acceptance. Criminals clearly have little use for or need of a moral life. Criminals, too, have some need of linkages and connections in their lives. Continuity, then, may be different things to different people. Just like happiness. And just so.
Cordially,
Neuman.

Guest's picture

Guest

Wednesday, December 2, 2015 -- 4:00 PM

The Demands of Morality your

The Demands of Morality your post title but sorry to say i can't understand what you want to say in your post. Over all your post really great.