Ethics has downsides

I’m enjoying Justin Gregg’s new book, If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity. In the fourth chapter he discusses some problems with human morality. It made me realize that we need to be just as skeptical that ethics is an unalloyed good as we are that technological progress will always have beneficial outcomes.

Many scholars and activists rightly point out that unqualified technology optimism is unwise. For example, in an excellent June 2022 episode of The New Thinkery podcast, philosopher Paul Diduch and the hosts discuss “whether unfettered technological progress is in fact ‘progress’ and what we, especially in the modern age, ought to think about before we call technology an absolute good for humans and our souls.” They seem to agree that too many technologists are naively optimistic about technology, focusing on the benefits and ignoring the downsides.

Justin Gregg’s observation that “human moral reasoning often leads to more death, violence, and destruction than we find in the normative behavior of non-human animals” helped me realize that some (many?) advocates for ethical behavior are guilty of a similar blinkered partiality. They sing the praises of ethical behavior without the caveat that moral reasoning does not always lead to good outcomes: it often leads to polarization and is used to justify discrimination, genocide, and war. Justin Gregg reminds us that “morality, while not necessarily wholly arbitrary, is largely culturally determined.” We share the world with people who differ from us in culture and thus morals. What’s a moral good to me might be an abomination to you.

Everyone should know by now that technology is a double-edged sword. It has downsides, unintended side effects, and comes with risks. That doesn’t mean we should stop developing technology, but it does mean that we should be clear-eyed about the hazards. 

Similarly, we should recognize that encouraging moral reasoning and ethical behavior is not a pure good. That doesn’t mean that we should stop thinking about what’s moral and trying to do what’s ethical. But it does mean that we shouldn’t assume that what’s “ethical” or “moral” to us is necessarily good—or for the good.