[p2p-research] Helping the Helpless

[Ryan Lanham]

Hi Edward,

There are undoubtedly many links between utilitarianism and pragmatism.  I
suppose most pragmatists see the difference is that P seems less bent on a
specific view of optimum circumstances...most for the most, etc.  The real
crux of pragmatism as a philosophy is acceptance of the necessity of
relativism, extreme skepticism of rigid worldviews, hope for dialogue and
collaboration, and a modern emphasis on what Karl Weick calls sensemaking.
I see very little difference between pragmatists and evolutionary thinkers
along lines of Stephen Jay Gould.  Maybe we're the great shoulder
shruggers...as in "whatever."

Ryan

On Sat, Sep 26, 2009 at 4:03 PM, Edward Miller <embraceunity at gmail.com>wrote:

> I just wanted to agree with both Kevin's and Ryan's comments, but with
> caveats.
>
> Kevin, while I would say that there has been genetic consequences resulting
> from the history of centralized power structures, I do not think that they
> are all that strong. Our higher reasoning abilities may actually have
> increased. Our brains have increased in size in the past 650 years.
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4643312.stm
>
> Perhaps this is just part of the Flynn Effect, or maybe it is something
> else. Certainly in civilized society intelligence is clearly seen as an
> indicator of sexual fitness, and even intelligence and sperm motility seem
> to be correlated. While we may be woefully uninformed as a whole, this is
> not because of a natural ability deficit. Thus, we are clearly capable of
> making choices. Not infrequently do we make choices to revolt against
> authority structures, in spite of any minor selection pressure for docility.
> There are plenty of selection pressures going the other way as well. A lack
> of assertiveness is seen as weakness by potential mates. Conditions of
> geography, climate, and material scarcity also seem to select for
> selfishness, aggressiveness, etc... though simultaneously we have a higher
> level of cultural evolution and world-system evolution taking place which is
> selecting for people who can function well by capitalist logic... thus we
> see multiculturalism, teamwork, entrepreneurship and simultaneously docility
> selected for.
>
> So it is a very complex matter, and we can't make any simple
> generalizations, except that we can say with empirical evidence that certain
> genes promote certain temperaments, and we can speak of how we might like to
> see them changed. Would we like to increase compassion? Increase pleasure
> capacities? Under what mode of production? (capitalism? socialism? open
> source?) Etc. For me it is a pragmatic matter.
>
> ---
>
> Ryan, your definition of pragmatism is consequentialist in nature, and
> likely utilitarian. I am a staunch utilitarian, as is David Pearce. The
> criteria by which we determine what works "best" is how it affects the
> subjective experience of the sentient beings which are being considered.
>
> Now there are a lot of paradoxes in this worldview, such as the Utility
> Monster or the Repugnant Conclusion, but most of them only deal with certain
> types of utilitarianism (preference utilitarianism, classical
> utilitarianism, hedonism, etc), and even still they can usually be dispelled
> by taking a more holistic approach. Yet the ultimate goal of producing some
> variation of the idea of the "maximum happiness for the maximum number"
> remains unchanged.
>
>
>
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>


-- 
Ryan Lanham
rlanham1963 at gmail.com
Facebook: Ryan_Lanham
P.O. Box 633
Grand Cayman, KY1-1303
Cayman Islands
(345) 916-1712
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