Purism: Logic as the basis of Morality

Abstract

This article introduces an a priori paradigm of beings and morality which distinguishes entities that are sought as ends from those that are sought as means to an end. The former entities, I offer, are the essence of personhood and are considered precious by observers possessing a logical system of valuation. The latter entitiesthose sought only as a means to an end -I term 'materials'. Materials are sought for their conditional value: important for achieving sought ends, they are not considered precious in and of themselves. A normative system for how this dichotomy of entities should interact is consequently derived and introduced. This paradigm has applicability for modern humanism and beyond. Assuming societal technological progression whereby human bodies and their surrounding infrastructures continue to evolve and integrate, the distinction between beings and their supporting materials, and a moral code for their interactions, will become ever more relevant.

Purism: Desire as the Ultimate Value, Part One An Appeal to Logical Reason

“…In the wake of the discovery of an ultimate value, whose ultimate nature appears to be an objective (independently-existing and discoverable) feature of realityby which any alternative is inconceivable, given appropriate and continued considerationa plausible answer to the question of ‗what is morality?' is as follows: Morality is the state (condition) which maximally realizes the ultimate value wherever, and in whatever specific nature, it is sought (Primus, 2020(Primus, , 2021. Maximizing the realization of (pre-existing) states of ultimate value (e.g., actualizing pre-existing desires that had previously only existed within peoples' minds) is not to be confused with the creation of (new) states of ultimate value for the purpose of efficiently maximizing its realization (e.g., using AI to generate an abundance of simple desires that are easily satisfied, in order to efficiently maximize desire).…”

“…Maximizing the realization of (pre-existing) states of ultimate value (e.g., actualizing pre-existing desires that had previously only existed within peoples' minds) is not to be confused with the creation of (new) states of ultimate value for the purpose of efficiently maximizing its realization (e.g., using AI to generate an abundance of simple desires that are easily satisfied, in order to efficiently maximize desire). The creation of arbitrariness (whether a desire or otherwise) is conceivably unethical unless said creation is itself desired (Primus, 2021). John Searle (1964) cogently offers that it is a tautology to assert that a promise should be honored.…”

“…This intuition is apparently built from daily associations between desires and the material states that accompany or underly their realization. I have discussed what I purport to be the fundamental differences between ‗material' states and states of desire previously (Primus, 2020(Primus, , 2021. For the purposes of this article, readers should consider that material states are essentially the states that we perceive we need whereas desires are the states that we want.…”

“…Of course, in contemporary society, an individual might seek to wear a coat or a pair of shoes for a combination of reasons in any moment. I address the practical entanglement of desires and needs elsewherenoting, for example that contemporary human beings exist as combinations of various, physically-entangled states that they need and desire (Primus, 2021). For now, the reader should note that a desire is always conceptually separable and distinct from all other states, if not also always practically so.…”

“…That is, in the nearperfect world that we are striving for, people can desire to deceive each other as much as they want (e.g., the use of deception in jokes and satire) and this is morally permissible because in such a (near-perfect) world there is no need for people to associate with each other if said deception is not mutually desired. Deception, of course, must be conditionally controlled and regulated as a means to the ends of society: In the course of any act that one believes one needs to enact, deliberate deception may be permitted or even essential, providing it occurs as a logical (that is, probably the most efficient) means to a peaceful purpose (maximizing the realization of desire; Primus, 2020Primus, , 2021. The reader will note that my logical appeal for the ultimate value of desire does not rely on axioms, but rather rests on the a priori inconceivability of any alternative.…”