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> One of the easiest way to find meaning then, is to strive to reduce other sentient beings sufferings, and to increase their happiness. This is basically http
by ajuc 8y ago
> One of the easiest way to find meaning then, is to strive to reduce other sentient beings sufferings, and to increase their happiness.
This is basically https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism and the simple counterexample to that is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_monster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_monster
At any rate - it's clear to me that these goals are self-created, and different between different people, so claiming them to be universal seems wrong.
- gerbilly 8y agoIf you say so, but i don't think other animals and organisms are 'self-creating' the goal I described. They come with that built into their neurochemistry, and so do we. It's the closest thing to a universal moral system I could think of. And I don't see it as utilitarianism, I was thinking of Buddhist ethics which also contains other precepts to counteract some of the pathological cases in utilitarianism.[1] [1] Does it do so perfectly? Probably not, but it attempts to be a practical set of precepts, you still have to use your brain.