"I still have trouble articulating exactly what this distinction is, and there is much more to say about it. But this thread does a very good job of pointing to it"
—Can we at least start by saying that morality can be divided first into two categories?
A. Not doing bad things to people.
B. Doing good things for people.
Those who observe, effect, and embody A. are probably more likely to do B. Certainly people who do B. are more likely to do A.
Those explanations also demonstrate (to my satisfaction, at least, haha) why violations of A. are punishable and violations of B. are not.
I am not saying morality is easy to understand, but I do believe the basics are provable, and lead to conclusions about rights that are true, and that indicate that rights are a natural phenomenon.
And I would love to have this discussion with Tolkien. I believe he would agree.
I loved that thread, too! LOTR, really much of Tolkien, is like the Bible for me. I reread it regularly, highlight, quote, reflect, ponder. I liked Dune as a sci-fi story but that’s as far as it went. I hated every page of GoT as a nihilistic nightmare. I only read it all because I was trapped in a hospital bed.
That is so interesting and explains a lot of what is going on in the world, where outcomes dominate . Where the cost and devastation are not considered, but the justification even for evil is. Thank you
Thank you for this.
👍
Great post and thread!
"I still have trouble articulating exactly what this distinction is, and there is much more to say about it. But this thread does a very good job of pointing to it"
—Can we at least start by saying that morality can be divided first into two categories?
A. Not doing bad things to people.
B. Doing good things for people.
Those who observe, effect, and embody A. are probably more likely to do B. Certainly people who do B. are more likely to do A.
I am pretty confident that I can define A. and explain exactly why it exists, and exactly why your rights are real. The chart here helps: https://christophercook.substack.com/p/exact-moment-i-became-anarchist
(Also explained in more detail in 1.0–1.5 here: https://christophercook.substack.com/p/humans-we-have-problem-consent)
Those explanations also demonstrate (to my satisfaction, at least, haha) why violations of A. are punishable and violations of B. are not.
I am not saying morality is easy to understand, but I do believe the basics are provable, and lead to conclusions about rights that are true, and that indicate that rights are a natural phenomenon.
And I would love to have this discussion with Tolkien. I believe he would agree.
I loved that thread, too! LOTR, really much of Tolkien, is like the Bible for me. I reread it regularly, highlight, quote, reflect, ponder. I liked Dune as a sci-fi story but that’s as far as it went. I hated every page of GoT as a nihilistic nightmare. I only read it all because I was trapped in a hospital bed.
That is so interesting and explains a lot of what is going on in the world, where outcomes dominate . Where the cost and devastation are not considered, but the justification even for evil is. Thank you