Diotima: The Marist Undergraduate Philosophy Journal
of any one individual is of no more importance from the point of view (if I may say
so) of the Universe, than the good of any other” (2014, p. 191).
But it is notoriously difficu lt to give an unbiased account of one’s own
cognition, so we should exercise some caution before taking Sidgwick at his word.
Yet such caution is lacking in LRS’ argument. LRS largely take Sidgwick at his
word, presumably because they do not think these contaminants offer “ obvious non-
truth- tracking explanations.” But the “obvious” standard is problematic, for the
most pernicious cognitive biases we know of are unobvious — only found through
introspective digging, or controlled experiments. Now, we have no budget for
experiments, so let us get our hands dirty and dig.
Digging Around
I am now channeling Sidgwick, engaging in “rational intuition” about ethics. I must
admit that the appeal UB has for me is not quite like that of solving a math
problem or following modus ponens, the kinds of activities LRS have in mind as
models of what I am doing. It strikes me that, when I mentally assent that the
goods of all sentient beings are equally important, I am not only being taken by the
current of reason. When I ponder UB, I also hear sirens — the seductive calls of such
debunkables as Equality, Justice, and even (I admit) Beauty, since evenness pleases
me aesthetically.
Similarly, I cannot rule out the possibility that I have approached UB with
siren songs about the joys of more — in both senses of the word — familiar
benevolence in my ear: being a brother is quite nice: wouldn’t it be even better to be a
brother to all?
LRS offer little defense against these objections. Though they make a
compelling argume nt against Kahane’s charge that UB is a “reasoned extension” of
partial benevolence, they fail to consider that it could be (at least partly) an
emotional extension. “S,” of course, is aware of the power of Schweitzerian paeans to
worldly love; without argument, it remains a possibility that these sorts of things
contaminate the path to UB.
Volume VI (2023)
53
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