"Beneficentrism strikes me as impossible to deny while retaining basic moral decency. Does anyone disagree? Devil's advocates are welcome to comment."
That depends on how you define basic moral decency or if you even believe that there is such a thing as a moral tenant that is universal.
But the truth is that most moral/religious/ideolo…
"Beneficentrism strikes me as impossible to deny while retaining basic moral decency. Does anyone disagree? Devil's advocates are welcome to comment."
That depends on how you define basic moral decency or if you even believe that there is such a thing as a moral tenant that is universal.
But the truth is that most moral/religious/ideological systems in history didn't place much value on utilitarianism/beneficentrism. Ancient Greeks, Romans, Vikings and Mongols were not big on utilitarianism. Even Christianity, which puts a lot of weight on Works, is first concerned with Faith. Marxists might look utilitarian, but they see class struggle, the Revolution, and the accompanying blood shedding as taking priority with utopia happening only in the last phase. Nietzsche saw utilitarianism as the defining characteristic of a slave morality.
"Beneficentrism strikes me as impossible to deny while retaining basic moral decency. Does anyone disagree? Devil's advocates are welcome to comment."
That depends on how you define basic moral decency or if you even believe that there is such a thing as a moral tenant that is universal.
But the truth is that most moral/religious/ideological systems in history didn't place much value on utilitarianism/beneficentrism. Ancient Greeks, Romans, Vikings and Mongols were not big on utilitarianism. Even Christianity, which puts a lot of weight on Works, is first concerned with Faith. Marxists might look utilitarian, but they see class struggle, the Revolution, and the accompanying blood shedding as taking priority with utopia happening only in the last phase. Nietzsche saw utilitarianism as the defining characteristic of a slave morality.