Precarious conditions of rational action+ Begin with the notebook’s powerful summary (as it still seems) of the argument.
:seenotebook:2021-10-13f,16a,23b,26b,27g:seenotebook:2021-11-21b: reason and morality express|show the same existential concern
:N.B.notebook:2021-9-20a: optimal cosmic fit, which could be described earlier
:: this suggests an instance of cosmological fine tuning,
but one that is immune from the anthropic objection
: privately cf.@~/code/WP3/way/ethic/._/cosmic_fit.brec:seehttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/fine-tuning/:seehttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/fine-tuning/#AnthObje:re `earlier`see e.g.`Relate optimal fit`@~/code/WP3/way/ethic/._/a_failure_of_reason_boneyard.brec:N.B.notebook:2021-11-8d: an objection to consider
+ Consider for salvage:
- We see there {in what nightfall reveals} a formal thing like an ethic,
a form for what matters, a structure that cradles a thing of value.
+ In the final sentence that ushers what ‘gives me entry|access to that society and ethic’,
this is no longer the formula of a postulate/premise, but rather the recognition
that the bounden ends entail (at least some) conditions of rational action.
:re `gives me entry\|access`seenotebook:2021-10-13f:private─────────────────────────
inference of conditions┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
+ Resolve the precarious conditions of rational action.
/ Viz. those apt to be suboptimally realized.
: privately seenotebook:2021-8-5g- Resolve them as those safeguarded and supported by the institutions of contemporary society
on one hand, and medieval and early-modern societies on the other.
+ Explain how they condition rational action.
: privately seenotebook:2021-11-13cends justification:cf.@`^+entailment by duty$`/ Viz. justifying one’s ends.
+ Suggest a relation between ends justification and freedom of will (as opposed to action).
/ To hang references on, not theory, which surely has already been worked out.
+ Hang references on that suggestion.
:see`^*Schneewind.+1998.+The invention of autonomy`@sources.brec: p. 290.4.
His quote of Harrington is promising, though he does not discuss it in this light.
+ Read Honderich’s *How free are you?*.
freedom of action:cf.@`^+entailment by duty$`────────────────────
entailment by duty┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈
ends justification:cf.@`^+inference of conditions$`- Willing the bounden ends entails, through practical reasoning, a requirement
for ends justification.
∵ One must critically examine one’s ends to ensure that no unjustifiable end
conflicts with a bounden end, as that would be contrary to duty.
+ For this purpose, define unjustifiable as both unreasonable (rationally ungrounded)
and amoral.
:re `unreasonable`see`^*principle: Reason in its practical use requires`@axiologic_uncertainty.brec:re `both`see`^*no rational ground for morality and moral certainty$`@`^+Notes?$`@moral_uncertainty.brec- Such a conflict would not be open to arbitration by prudence because an unjustifiable end
weighs nothing in the balance against duty.
:re `an unjustifiable end.+against duty`ssee`^*principle: ${same}`i@rights.brecfreedom of action:cf.@`^+inference of conditions$`- Willing the bounden ends entails, through practical reasoning and action,
a requirement for freedom of action.
- Willing the bounden ends entails action directed to those ends.
- It entails thought *at the least*, and thought requires action to sustain it.
One must keep oneself going.
/ The only exceptions that obtain in practice are an incapacity for self maintenance
or a resolution to die.
/ Normally, of course, one needs no prompting from duty. Nature has equipped us
to carry on both individually and collectively, and continues to urge that we do.
But *that duty also enjoins it* matters if, from this fact, by way of an ethic
of clear norms, we can inform the structure of a society that better supports it,
a society that bridges the gap between what nature has bestowed and the cosmos
at large promises.
:re `(individually).+\R.+(duty.+enjoins it)`see`One must keep oneself going`:re `(collectively).+\R.+(duty.+enjoins it)`see`^*H\. The.+macrocommunity of humankind extant`@moral_uncertainty.brec:re `gap`see`If you have what it takes to reach me`@http://reluk.ca/project/way/ethic/axiologic_uncertainty.brec:re `promises`see`I will give you time and space unbounded in which to carry on`@http://reluk.ca/project/way/ethic/axiologic_uncertainty.brec?+ Does not duty’s enjoinment of a will to our carrying on collectively (H)
entail action *beyond* that of sustaining thought, at least by some?
:re `H`see`^*H\..+humankind extant`@moral_uncertainty.brec- We’ll persist one generation at most if all we do is think, and the probability
of attaining moral certainty during that period is too small to take seriously.
personal security- Each of the foregoing conditions entails, in turn, a condition of personal security.
:re `foregoing conditions`see`^*ends justification$`@`^+entailment by duty$`:re `foregoing conditions`see`^*freedom of action$`@`^+entailment by duty$`+ Qualify this condition as likewise precarious and warrant the qualification.
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