From: Ben Goertzel (ben@goertzel.org)
Date: Sun Feb 29 2004 - 16:14:19 MST
Jef,
The answer to my question
> > But what is this "Universal Morality"?
definitely lies in statements such as the ones you made in this paragraph:
> As with any branch of science, there will be fundamental axioms. These
> might be popularly taken as "moral truths" with an almost mystical
> flavor such as "Self and Other are distinct and both are essential",
> "Growth is essential and is achieved via interaction between Self and
> Other", "Growth is maximized via interaction with adjacent Other prior
> to distant other", "Growth is maximized via increasing diversity of
> interaction", and so on. During a period of transition, these might be
> adopted by some as the basis of a new pseudo-religious morality, but in
> the bigger picture will be a closer approximation to "what works."
Your message gave what Marc's did not, which is some indication of what the
actual content of a Universal Morality might be.
Of course, I largely agree with you regarding the sort of thing that might
constitute part of a universal morality, as your emphasis on Growth and what
may help achieve it relates closely to the Growth/Joy/Choice ethic that I
suspect closely approximates the "implicit ethic of the universe."
-- ben g
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