Philosophy and Ideas
‘Evolutionary Psychology considers why natural selection left us vulnerable to mental disorders and aims to use this knowledge to improve treatments.’ My notes on the book.
Philosophical Ethics is commonly divided into three areas: Normative Ethics, Metaethics and Applied Ethics. I suggest adding a fourth area – Particular Decisions – and being explicit that each area covers practical reason generally rather than just morality.
‘Personal finance is not a hard science but a soft skill and doing well with money is more about psychology than intelligence.’ My notes on the book.
‘Delusionism is the best explanation for scientific discoveries and reflections about consciousness. My sense of being a conscious self is constructed when I probe by asking if I am conscious, while at other times my brain and experience reflect parallel processing. It is a delusion to think I have a unified conscious stream, a detailed visual field, a self or free will.’ My Notes on the Book
‘Psychological findings provide a distinctive picture of human nature which can be compared with ancient wisdom and used to provide guidance on how to live. Conscious reasoning is like a rider on the elephant of the unconscious mind. Happiness can come from creating good relationships with love, work and something larger, but can only be achieved by training the elephant.’ My Notes on the Book
My notes on this fine book which investigates the philosophical background to a 1946 meeting where Wittgenstein may have brandished a poker against Popper.
I have discovered the joys of travelling light. My tips for travelling with only hand luggage.
My 30-point summary of David Deutsch’s inspiring view of knowledge
‘The secret to productivity isn’t discipline but joy. Feeling good increases productivity by increasing energy and creativity and undoing stress. Procrastination should be tackled by removing the blockers of uncertainty, fear and inertia.’ My notes on the book.
‘Minds evolved and created thinking tools that eventually enabled minds to know how minds evolved.’ My notes on the book.
My division of knowledge into seven domains.
Homo Sapiens have progressed through the cognitive, agricultural and scientific revolutions, eliminated many species and have coordinated using fictions but haven’t become much happier. My notes on the book.
Humanity is a cultural species, powered by accumulating knowledge. The insights from eight absorbing books that provide a new perspective on humanity’s past, present and future.
‘I find it helpful to see the issue of free will as involving not one problem but three’ A short essay arguing that two traditional problems of free will can be dismissed and the third is only true in part.
‘We have two modes of thinking: System 1 that is quick, automatic and unconscious, and System 2 that is slow, effortful and under conscious control. The operation of System 1 leads to systematic biases that System 2 is commonly too inattentive to correct.’ My notes on the book.
The delightful biography of philosopher Derek Parfit by David Edmunds. My review and extracts.
‘At a fundamental level, consequentialist ethical theories just make judgements about the degree to which states of the world and actions are better than alternatives. Yet on to consequentialism we graft deontological concepts such as ‘right’ and end up with weird views such as that it is wrong to give less than everything to charity. Consequentialism should be seen as a radical approach, to be applied and judged on its own terms.’
A short essay on the valuable distinction between The Reality Mindset and The Mythology Mindset that Steven Pinker introduced in his book ‘Rationality’.
‘Morality is not objective – it does not have an independent existence. As objectivity is fundamental to moral concepts, all morality is in error. We should create a non-objective morality, as a refined version of existing morality.’ My notes recording the contents of the book, see a separate post for my comments on the book.
John Mackie’s 1977 book ‘Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong’ strongly influenced my views on ethics, mainly from my reactions against it. I analyse where I think Mackie got it wrong and how my current perspective incorporates ideas from the book. See a separate post for my notes recording the book’s contents.
‘Growth has slowed in recent decades, the Great Stagnation, as easier ideas have gone, knowledge has become more complex and society has stagnated. Will new technologies and an interconnected world speed up the creation of Big Ideas and advance the Knowledge Frontier?’ My notes on the book.
‘I am a naturalist. I believe that everything can be understood purely as relating to the natural world and that there is nothing supernatural.’ A short essay arguing for naturalism and exploring its significance.
‘Bertrand Russell’s life was fascinating and inspiring, but what makes the autobiography great is the quality of the writing. Russell’s writing voice is exceptional: clear, easy, rhythmic and engaging, with a distinctive gentle humour. The autobiography shows Russell’s writing at its delightful best.’ My notes on the book.
‘Longtermism is the view that positively influencing the future is a key moral priority of our time. Future people count, there could be a lot of them, and we can make their lives go better. We should both try to ensure survival and to improve future lives. We are at a time of plasticity where moral progress is possible before values become locked-in.’ My notes on the book.
Purposes and minds only arose with life on earth. An essay putting these concepts in their place.
There is much fine material from Will MacAskill promoting ‘What We Owe The Future.’ My links to 21 podcasts, 32 articles and 8 other items, updated 20 September 2022.
My summary of the excellent discussion of abortion by Joshua Greene in his book Moral Tribes
Can we reason about ends? Of course we can, we do it all the time. Only philosophical confusions have made us think otherwise.
Effective altruism should recognise that motivation comes more reliably from following norms and law than from willpower. A post on the EA Forum.
‘Normative words such as ‘good’ and ‘ought’ have consistent end-relational semantics. Practical reason and morality therefore are about assessing means and ends. Absolutist and emotivist features of moral language can be explained by conversational pragmatics.’ My notes on the book.
‘W.E.I.R.D. people – Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic – are outliers. They are more individualistic, impartial and trusting than most of humanity which is more tribal. A key cause of Western psychology was the Catholic Church’s marriage rules which weakened kinship.’ My notes on the book.
‘You are your habits. Every action you take is a vote for the person you want to be. Choose your identity and then build your habits to fulfil this. The person you build through your good habits gives you the system to achieve your goals ‘ My notes on the book.
‘The doctrines of the Blank Slate, the Noble Savage and the Ghost in the Machine have become established in intellectual life although they contradict science and commonsense. By contrast, science is providing a rich picture of human nature that we can appreciate and employ..’ My notes on the book.
Five recommended books to introduce utilitarianism
Brief points to set out my views on metaethics, utilitarianism and effective altruism
‘Knowledge proceeds by creating good explanations and improving them through conjectures and criticism. Rapid creation of knowledge took off with the Enlightenment and from the approach that all knowledge is fallible and capable of improvement. Generation of knowledge makes humanity significant, and may be an infinite process.’ My notes on the book.
‘Eurasian dominance can be explained by its technology and its diseases, which came from its long-settled societies. Eurasia was settled earlier due to its early and widespread adoption of food production which arose because of its domesticable plants and animals, its accessibility and scale and its East-West orientation.’ My notes on the book.
‘Effective altruism’s approach is to use evidence and careful reasoning to find how to make the most positive difference. As affluent countries are 100 times richer, and because the best charities can be 100s of times more effective, we each have the power to save dozens of lives by donating to the most effective development charities.’ My notes on the book.
‘We use imagination to simulate our futures but make systematic errors in forecasting our happiness.’ My notes on the book.
‘Good style allows writers to get their messages across, earn trust and add beauty to the world. Non-fiction writing should be in Classic Style, aiming to engage the reader in conversation and make it easy for the reader to see what is being presented. A writer should be well read, should take care to avoid the Curse of Knowledge and to be coherent, and should be aware of syntax trees and some prescriptive rules.’ My notes on the book.
‘The enlightenment ideas of reason, science, humanism and progress have transformed human well-being. As can be illustrated by data and graphs, there has been tremendous progress across life expectancy, health, nutrition, wealth, knowledge and lifestyles – first a Great Escape by the West, then a Great Convergence by the rest of the world. By contrast, modern problems including existential risks, environment and happiness are overstated or manageable. Greater awareness of the enlightenment’s achievements and approach would counter declinist, religious and populist thinking. ‘ My notes on the book.
‘The secret of humanity’s success is cumulative cultural evolution. Cultural evolution has been the primary driver of our species’ genetic evolution. Larger and more interconnected populations generate more sophisticated tools, techniques, weapons, and know-how because they have larger collective brains.’ My notes on the book.
‘We explain the universe by constructing narratives that operate at different levels, but which are consistent. Despite our longing for immortality and the absolute, life and mind are only transitory.’ My notes on the book.
‘Poetic naturalism considers that our best approach to describing the universe is not a single, unified story told at the fundamental and deterministic level of a quantum wave function, but instead an interconnected series of models appropriate at different levels with emergent descriptions that should be considered real. The evolution of the universe is pushed by increasing entropy and complexity from a low-entropy past. Ethical systems are human constructions that can be improved.’ My notes on the book.
‘Humanity is on a precipice where it risks destroying itself and losing its vast future potential. We have immense leverage at this time, so reducing existential risks should be our top moral priority.’ My notes on the book.
‘Our minds are righteous as we make moral judgments quickly and instinctively and any reasoning mainly just confirms our intuitions. Morality can concern harm, fairness, liberty, loyalty, authority and the sacred, but western liberals concentrate only on harm and fairness. Morality binds us to groups but blinds us to alternative perspectives.’ My notes on the book.
‘Perhaps the most important feature of human history is a
massive decline in violence, from hunter-gatherers, through primitive and modern states, and over recent decades. Our escape from a shockingly brutal past has been due to forming states, to cultures of civilized values and self-control, to the ideas of the enlightenment and of human rights and to capacities to consider others and toapply reason. ‘ My notes on the book.
‘Questions about values are about the welfare of conscious creatures. We should use reason to decide what to do, developing a science of morality rather than relying on divine authority or accepting moral relativism.’ My notes on the book.
‘The Happiness Principle is the overarching personal and political goal of creating happiness. The World Happiness Movement encourages a gentler, kinder culture. ‘ My notes on the book.
‘Personal and public policy should be directed towards the general good by applying the modern scientific understanding of happiness. We should address the paradox that economic growth has not made us happier. Happiness is a single, objective dimension, but we should give more weight to the happiness of the less happy. We should aim for trust, security and cooperation.’ My notes on the book.
‘Through reasoning we can take an increasingly impartial concern for the interests of all and broaden the circle of moral subjects to include all sentient beings. Our evolved moral instincts are not trustworthy, but we can use reason to get beyond our evolved natures and make better choices.’ My notes on the book.
‘Utilitarianism as a leading moral theory has a long history and is enjoying a revival. Arguments for and against utilitarianism are set out and it is concluded that utilitarianism is well supported, notably by recent work from Joshua Greene. Utilitarianism is valuable, and its proponents continue to support reforms to promote happiness and relieve suffering.’ My notes on the book.
‘The book sets out Sidgwick’s utilitarian position, relates it to more recent literature and argues compellingly for a Sidgwickian contemporary utilitarianism. Impartial reasoning and the direct awareness of pleasure are central to utilitarianism, and unlike our partial intuitions these cannot be debunked by considering evolutionary origins.’ My notes on the book.
‘Our moral instincts have evolved for cooperation in groups but cause conflict between groups. We have both automatic moral emotions and the capacity to employ utilitarian reasoning and we should use utilitarianism as a common currency to resolve disputes. Rather than rationalizing our intuitive moral convictions we should transcend the limitations of our tribal gut reactions.’ My notes on the book.
‘We have an elementary faculty of reason and have developed techniques that magnify its scope. The normative tools of reason should be taught and practiced, and care is needed to avoid mistakes of reasoning. All our beliefs should fall within a reality mindset, but the human mind is adapted to understanding remote spheres through a mythology mindset.’ My notes on the book.
‘Our perceptions are controlled hallucinations, a top-down, inside-out neuronal fantasy that is reined in by reality, not a transparent window onto whatever that reality may be. ‘ My notes on the book.
‘Am I the same person as my 10-year-old self? In the sense of having the same identifiable body: yes. In the sense of psychological continuity: partly. In the sense of having the same soul: no such thing.’ A short essay on bodily, psychological and essence concepts of personhood.
My favourite philosophical passage is the final section of Derek Parfit’s Reasons and Persons. In a few paragraphs he introduces two profound ideas: the importance of humanity’s long-term future and that non-religious ethics has only just begun. I discuss the passage in historical context and add my thoughts on how ethics has been stunted by religion and non-cognitivism and how clarifying meta-ethics could clear the ground for normative ethics.
A briefer statement of my view that normativity is end-relational and that appreciating this resolves the mysteries of practical reason.
Morality is erroneously considered to be objective, but I argue this does not affect what matters as morality is only a small element within practical reason. A paper for my Birkbeck MA.
Both practical reason and morality can be better understood by appreciating their end-relational natures. This is my dissertation for the Birkbeck MA where I develop the approach of Stephen Finlay and show its significance.
Both practical reason and morality can be better understood by appreciating their end-relational natures. In this essay I develop the approach of Stephen Finlay and show its significance. This essay was published in the OUDCE Philosophical Society Annual Review in 2019 and is based on my Birkbeck MA Thesis.
Hume made influential bold claims about the limited role of reason in morality. I argue that a close reading shows that Hume is not consistent in his dismissals of reason. I also argue that Hume overlooks the fundamental normative function of ethics. This was a 2019 essay for my Birkbeck MA.
‘Consciousness seems otherworldly, but is created by the brain, probably to monitor brain responses. It evolved as it gives life meaning and enjoyment and so encourages us to live. We value our pure being, the enchanted external world that our brains create and our essentially private souls.’ My notes on the book.
I answer ‘Why Should I be Good’ by distinguishing normative and motivating reasons. I also touch on a number of my pet themes including end-relational normativity, welfare, happiness, expanding the moral circle, reason against instinct, effective altruism, the role of rules and different metaethical views, This is an edited scrip from a talk I gave to the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education on 4 September 2021 and is included in the 2021 OUDCE Philosophical Society Annual Review.
‘Conscious experience and the self are internal models, a virtual reality, the ego tunnel in which we live. They have evolved as transparent, so we think they are real. We should adopt the radical view that we do not directly experience reality and do not have a self.’ My notes on the book.
I argue that the starting point for considering ethics should be practical reason broadly rather than morality. Practical reason covers the full range of practical questions and reflects a basic human function. It provides a neutral starting point and makes clear the full subject area of ethics and the landscape of issues. It removes the metaphysical bewilderment and the doubts that have arisen from the focus on morality. Above all, it clears away confusions and allows a straightforward focus on the ever more important task of making better choices about what to do.