Sentences to Ponder

From Robert Wright.

Self-doubt can be the first step to moral improvement. But our biases are so subtle, alluring, and persistent that converting a wave of doubt into enduring wisdom takes work. The most-impressive cases of bias neutralization I’m aware of involve people who have spent ungodly amounts of time—several hours a day for many years—in meditative practices that make them more aware of the workings of their minds. These people seem much less emotion-driven, much less wrapped up in themselves, and much less judgmental than, say, I am. (And brain scans of these highly adept meditators have found low levels of activity in brain networks associated with self-regarding thought.)

Read the whole thing. I think he is saying that utilitarianism is insufficient as a moral framework, because utilitarians with too much hubris can be morally dangerous. Maybe you will read him differently.

2 thoughts on “Sentences to Ponder

  1. Like every other belief or ethos, yes. Utilitarianism is harmful when taken to the extreme.

    I would say that *every* moral framework is insufficient in and of itself.

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