Good, Evil, Morality, and Ethics

I’ve said a number of things about good and evil at Overcoming Bias, and I decided to gather my comments together in one place. I’ve extracted the following quotes out of their surrounding context. The full original discussion can be found in Rationality Quotes 7 and Morality Is Overrated. Arguments similar to mine appear in [...]

Agreeing to Disagree

Some people believe that, “In an ideal world, disagreements would not exist”, and that “‘agreeing to disagree’ is a sign of mutual disrespect and contempt.” Others disagree. I believe that agreeing to disagree is a sign of respect and a practical necessity.

Analogy, Ethics, Cooperation, Evolution, and the Golden Ratio

Consider an analogy of the form A:B::C:D, “A is to B as C is to D”; for example, “mason is to stone as carpenter is to wood”. This kind of analogy is often called a proportional analogy. The Greeks believed that proportional analogy is like the numerical equation A/B = C/D; for example, 1/2 = [...]