Not sure why this got removed from 196lemmy…blahaj.zone but it would be real nice if moderation on Lemmy gave you some sort of notification of what you did wrong. Like an automatic DM or something

  • ParsnipWitch@feddit.de
    11·
    9 months ago

    You could still in theory measure it if you also measure whether and to what extent the idea that pain is a virtue leads to more or less suffering in the life of the person and others directly and indirectly affected.

    Otherwise what you suggest is that consequences don’t exist if we can’t foresee them. But obviously the consequences will objectively exist, whether or not we can measure them.

    Imagine you could look at the whole universe, all factors in all of it’s future. It’s an objective reality, if you agree that suffering is real, that every option will either entail more, less or the same amount of suffering than the other options.

    That’s what I am asking, is the option that entails more suffering better or the one that entails less suffering?

      • ParsnipWitch@feddit.de
        1·
        9 months ago

        It’s not subjective, though. Morality is an objective reality, that can, in theory, be compared between any two options and there would always be an objective answer which of the options are better or worse or the same. You just think there is no objective reason to follow those options which are morally better, but that’s a different question.

          • ParsnipWitch@feddit.de
            1·
            9 months ago

            I think you confuse cultural norms and rules with the abstract concept of ethics. When you question whether or not something is objectively morally better or worse than something else, that’s independent of different current norms and values.

            It’s the same as maths. If you have two black boxes one with three and one with fifteen potatoes in them, the box with the fifteen potatoes in it will objectively have more potatoes. It doesn’t matter if you can look into the boxes, like potatoes or if some people consider “less is more” or if they do not have a concept of mathematics. If you ask whether or not 15 potatoes are more than 3 this will always be an objective truth since numbers are defined by math and that a bigger number is bigger than a smaller number is an axiom of mathematics.

            If the black boxes would instead contain “suffering” it doesn’t matter what makes the suffering grow bigger or smaller. Someone who likes pain or for whom pain leads to greater outcome down the road will put less suffering into the box. It will still be an objective amount. Independent of whether or not you can measure it.