Logan McNichiols

What is there in the universe that we could call morality? Is it to be found in the material stuff of the universe? Are some arrangements of atoms more “moral” than others? It sounds rather absurd, doesn’t it? But at the level of experience I think the answer of where morality comes from is in such plain sight that it is hard for some of us to see. I believe that morality is fundamentally referring to our experiences of suffering and well-being. What do I Mean by Morality? Morality (or moralizing) was described by Leo as beliefs about the way the universe ought to be. This description of morality has some obvious problems, which Leo points out in his video “A Rant Against Morality”. In short, it makes no sense to talk about the way the universe ought to be, because the universe just is the way it is. The universe is the only way it could be. Plus, it is just kinda silly to complain about what the universe is doing. It’s not like the universe is going to be like “ahh, thank you, Bill, for your criticism.” The thing I refer to when I speak of morality is our best effort to answer the question, “What should we do next?” And, based on my current philosophical views, this question is isomorphic to the question “what action(s) are most likely to promote well-being and reduce suffering”? Objections There are two reasons I can think of for why one might doubt this. One is that someone may think that in talking about suffering and well-being I am simply speaking of my ego’s preferences. This is then a classic mistake of trying to impose one’s preferences on the universe, and justifying doing so by saying it is a deep moral principle. But this is confusing the constructed ego with consciousness itself. If suffering was just the something the ego disliked rather than an experience, then if I was having a hellish experience, my ego (my thoughts) might be running wild with “oh god make it stop”, or “I hate this, I hate everything”, but my actual consciousness would be smooth sailing. I might appear like I was having a horrible time. I might even loudly profess that I was. But from the inside there wouldn’t be any problem. There is a related point that is interesting to think about which is that perhaps the ego is the sole cause of our suffering. Perhaps if I could just stop identifying with the thoughts saying “oh god make it stop” then consciousness really would be smooth sailing. I must say I am skeptical about this (I think if the Buddha was somehow brought to the present day and made to undergo the most advanced methods of torture he might not fair too well) but even if it were true, it would not reduce suffering to something the ego dislikes. It would merely be saying that the is a necessary condition for suffering to arise as a conscious experience. It would still make sense to think about what one could do to reduce suffering. Even if one was completely enlightened and was guaranteed to never suffer again, they still have to potential to cause other ego-bearing humans suffering. The second thing that can sometimes come up is that a clever person will ask “why is suffering bad? Why is happiness or well-being good?” If you are concerned about the assertion that “suffering is bad”, because perhaps you think this is my ego distorting the truth for its own agenda, then by all means do away with the phrase. It is not necessary. We don’t have to refer to states of suffering, and acts which cause states of suffering, as “b-a-d” (although it can be a useful designation). My argument for moral realism does not rest on me being able to say therefore, because suffering is bad, we should mitigate suffering. Rather, I am confident that the direct experience of suffering does all this work for me. All that is required, I think, is for me to ask a thoughtful person to reflect on one of their worst experiences of suffering and one of their best experiences of well-being, and then suggest to them that perhaps, just maybe, this reflection answers the question of what, on a fundamental level, we should strive for.