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A shameful @nytimes hatchet job by @jenszalai on Steven Pinker's new book. Basic argument: if things aren't getting better for _everybody_, then progress is meaningless. And it mocks utilitarianism, which is the only coherent normative ethical system.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/books/review-enlightenment-now-steven-pinker.html?smid=tw-share …
For everyone freaking out about my utilitarianism, please learn a little more about it before slamming it; here's an excellent FAQ I assign to students in my Effective Altruism class, which addresses common misunderstandings https://www.lri.fr/~dragice/utilitarianism/faq.html …
If someone is combative against utilitarianism it says quite a lot about them.pic.twitter.com/FBWnmNSR7S
There ya go, that settles it.
1 I feel like Utilitarians often make move similar to extreme Libertarians. If I ask about monopolies, Libertarians tell me a story about how a "truly free" market *might* prevent monopolies.
2/ If I pitch a counterexample to a Utilitarian they tell me a story about how utility *might* actually be maximized by having a rule against the counterexample. There is no demonstration that it's likely in either case. Just a wave of the hand and a pinch of hope dust.
The idiocy and incoherence of common "counterarguments" to utilitarianism make my skin crawl. Many fail to realize that rule-based systems can be justified in purely consequentialist terms in order to maximize long-term utility. "Artificial deontology" as Nagel put it.
Agree the NYT hatchet job is shameful. The one by John Gray in New Statesman is so much better.
The problem with Utilitarianism is that it tries to reduce morality to something 'rational' that can be fed into a calculus There just is nothing 'rational' about why our pity is a duty to those near at hand, but not those far away
But not reducible to 'rational' does not mean 'irrational'. Our moral sense is very complex, a judgement on how we should live life, and many of the values are irreconcilable Utilitarianism offers no firm line in the sand to protect us from tyrannical universalism
Every 'rule-based' epicycle is vulnerable to a different run time with new inputs on the utilitarian calculating machine Utilitarianism is a fundamental flaw at the heart of Pinker's book https://www.mythinking.rocks/WillMartin/enlightenment_now …pic.twitter.com/DonNVH4BU2
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