MADE OF WIN


So we’ve got this whole entire subspecies that may or may not exist in our empirical human minds. They apparently exist in our world, but on this separate plane of existence altogether. Assuming they do exist what’s next? Well if you’re berkles the only clear solution is to determine our code of meta-ethics in dealing with them. Meta-ethics is a fairly recent trend in philosophy, which concerns itself with understanding the very nature of moral questions themselves. Ethics asks what is right or wrong, while meta-ethics asks what do right or wrong even mean at all. It is highly confusing, and most people could live their whole lives without ever encountering it.

I feel like this man when I pontificate so verbosely

These creatures which may or may not exist, may or may not exist to harm us, and so we must make decisions as to whether or not they are good or evil. So we can do one of two things. We can all get together and spend a lot of time deliberating over how to define evil to us and then deciding to label these creatures as good or evil(moral realism). Or we can choose to deny any sort of objectivity and think independently by applying subjective values to these theories(moral anti-realism).

Moral realism is a system that has been in effect for quite some time. Generally America is a nation traditionally run by Christians. That does not mean we are all under the rule of the Christians, that merely mean we do not constantly question everything about the current system of morals based on Christianity. Well we do, but the media is run by the religious right so it’s not portrayed nearly enough in an objective light.

Before asking whether or not the mushi must abide by the human ethical code(which they really do not) we must affirm what the human ethical code is. A method frequently used against moral realists is moral relativism. Moral relativism states that objective moral truths cannot be universally true, but objective moral truths are relative to their culture. Take the notion that in some deep in the jungle tribe might murder one another for seemingly trivial reason, but they do it to protect their honor which is more important than anything in their eyes. In the USA people would get jailed and killed for that. Thus there can be no universal moral code because each moral code is specifically relative to each culture.

So in one culture the mushi would be revered as gods, while in another they would be called demons and exterminated. I suppose that according to moral relativism they are both right and wrong.