Ranting, panting

Ethics are the intersection of logic and empathy. If there is a flaw in either the logic or the empathy, then the ethics are flawed. Considering the fact that we are highly prone to flaws and biases in both logic and empathy, there is strong grounds to question the utility of ethics.

How reliable is our sense of logic? In truth, most people do not use it. When we do, we need to stop (and think). We spell it out, write it down, talk it over, but eventually just resort to force. If we can't figure something out, we get frustrated and angry. It takes people years to figure out simple algebra, many people have math anxiety, and professional debaters, scholars, and politicians regularly defend positions which are logically indefensible (yet they win!) So, it is safe to say, I think, that we humans are not too great at logic - our logic is unreliable, at best.

How great is our empathy? Humans are fairly unique in having the ability to see things from the perspective of others. Evolutionarily, this ability has developed fairly recently. We have a much longer history of forcing our perspective on others, or of simply using others, regardless of their perspective, for our benefits. Looking at the record of human events, we fail in the empathy department. From bombing foreigners, to immigration police, to racism, to womens rights, to failing to sacrifice luxurious living for a few pennies of medicine for children, we fail. The small degree of empathy we do have is reserved for those in our immediate social circle or is a carefully cultivated garden of compassion growing from delicate social and economic conditions.

Rather than trying to simplify things to ethical rules which can be codified into enforceable laws, we should remain skeptical and agnostic. As appealing as it may be to some, there is not one set of rules for universal hapiness and salvation. No matter how much we justify, threaten, build idealogical frameworks, and claim that it is for the greater good, the fact remains that ethical rules are simplistic, unreliable, impose a set of values, and are dangerous tools for social manipulation.