• agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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    9 days ago

    Bentham developed hedonistic calculus. The foundation is a multivariate ethical vector space. He rationalized hedonism to the extreme. The passions are explicitly tempered for a calculated greater good.

      • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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        9 days ago

        No? Once reason restricts passion, the hierarchy collapses. An action that causes yourself mild pain, but pleasure of greater extent to others, is preferable to an action that causes many others pain even if it gives you pleasure personally. Reason demands you restrain yourself from the passions that would harm others. That’s not unilateral fealty. Axioms must be assumed, but the most powerful systems assume as few as possible, and leave most of the legwork to reason.

              • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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                9 days ago
                1. I am a sentient creature that feels pain and pleasure

                2. Others appear to be sentient creatures that feel pain and pleasure

                3. Pain is bad, so I should avoid inflicting it

                You don’t need empathy as an axiom to derive it rationally

                • xthexder@l.sw0.com
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                  9 days ago

                  Statement #3 is hearsay. I would argue the only thing you can know is that you personally do not like pain. There is no absolute good or bad, only what aligns or doesn’t with your passions (using the term loosely here).

                  The Golden Rule of “treating others as one would want to be treated”, is a logical conclusion that comes from experiencing the world and seeing that there’s a high probability that others will return actions in kind. It’s not perfect since everyone has different preferences (just look at the variety of sexualities and kinks out there).

                  • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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                    9 days ago

                    It is the logical extension of noticing the similarities between yourself and others, and noticing that you do not enjoy pain. It’s certainly not mathematically rigorous, but it follows from simple reasoning nonetheless. If you wanted to be rigorous, you can’t even claim that you don’t like pain, only that you haven’t liked specific instances of pain in the past. Some estimations are necessary for a functioning framework of any kind, including ethics.

          • Comment105@lemm.ee
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            9 days ago

            It’s not exactly something everyone has. There are quite a few psychopaths and sociopaths and a huge amount of narcissists out there

                • Dragon Rider (drag)@lemmy.nz
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                  9 days ago

                  Personality disorder rates are higher in high-income countries. Whereas about one in 10 American adults (if not slightly more) meet diagnostic criteria for a personality disorder, the worldwide prevalence is lower—sitting at about 8%, according to a 2020 literature review.

                  Put that with the 6.2%, and that makes it sound like most personality disorders are NPD. That sounds unbalanced and suspect. Where did you get that figure? Drag always heard 1% for each.