94 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2024
    1. T. Herlau, "Moral Reinforcement Learning Using Actual Causation," 2022 2nd International Conference on Computer, Control and Robotics (ICCCR), Shanghai, China, 2022, pp. 179-185, doi: 10.1109/ICCCR54399.2022.9790262. keywords: {Digital control;Ethics;Costs;Philosophical considerations;Toy manufacturing industry;Reinforcement learning;Forestry;Causality;Reinforcement learning;Actual Causation;Ethical reinforcement learning}

  2. Jan 2024
    1. terinföra möjligheten att utvisa utlänningar av bristande vandel

      Enligt SAOB betyder "vandel":

      sätt att leva sitt liv ur moralisk syn­vinkel

      Med andra ord: du skall kunna utvisas på grund av hur du lever ditt liv ur moralisk synvinkel.

      Detta är alltså vad Moderaterna, Sverigedemokraterna, Liberalerna och Kristdemokraterna står för år 2022.

  3. Dec 2023
  4. Oct 2023
    1. ``` Trauma Releasing Exercises are a form of Cult Deprogramming

      [[Trauma Releasing Exercises]] (TRE) by [[David Berceli]]

      related articles: [[Tremor]], [[Quakers]] (aka "shakers"), [[Bradford Keeney]] ([[Shaking medicine]]), [[Somatic experiencing]] ([[Peter A. Levine]]), [[Ecstatic dance]], [[Runner's high]], ... (its revealing that wikipedia has no articles on these "alternative medicine" topics... all hail the cult of big pharma!)

      this association assumes that cults use [[Psychological trauma]] to imprison their slaves.

      Psychological trauma is an emotional response caused by severe distressing events such as accidents, violence, sexual assault, terror, or sensory overload.

      in every cult, there are people who want to escape. this "want to escape" starts early in childhood, where it is counteracted by punishment = by creating psychological trauma.

      Sigmund Freud's [[Psychoanalysis]] always blames "some childhood trauma" for "neurotic" behavior in adults, instead of fixing the child education, to prevent the creation of that trauma in the first place = radical solution.

      the cult slaves are expected to use their body only for working, not for sports, not for fighting, not for pleasure. all problems should be solved peacefully and intellectually ("let us talk..."). because the cult leaders know: if the slaves make too much use of their body (shaking medicine), the slaves would escape.

      also related: [[Slave morality]] is another word for [[Cult]], because the [[Public opinion]] of every cult is a form of slave morality (beautiful lies), and hard truths ([[Red pill and blue pill|red pills]]) are hidden as master morality. ```

  5. Jul 2023
    1. That's the way computers are learning today. 00:02:35 We basically write algorithms that allow computers to understand those patterns… And then we get them to try and try and try. And through pattern recognition, through billions of observations, they learn. They're learning by observing. And what are they observing? They're observing a world that's full of greed, disregard for other species, violence, ego, 00:03:05 showing off The only way to be not only intelligent but also to have the right value set is that we start to portray that right value set today. THE PROBLEM IS UNHAPPINESS
      • Machine learning
        • will learn all our bad habits
        • and become supercharged, amplified versions of them
      • The antidote to apocalyptic machine learning
        • is human happiness and wisdom
    1. even though the existential threats are possible you're concerned with what humans teach I'm concerned 00:07:43 with humans with AI
      • It is the immoral human being that is the real problem
      • they will teach AI to be immoral and with its power, can end up destroying humanity
    2. a nefarious controller of AI presumably could teach it to be immoral
      • bad actor will teach AI to be immoral
      • this also creates an arms race as "good" actors are forced to develop AI to counter the AI of bad actors
  6. Feb 2023
    1. Ranters, a radical working-class antinomian movement that twogenerations before had openly preached the abolition of privateproperty and existing sexual morality.

      potential influence on pirates?

  7. Dec 2022
    1. Drawing from negativity bias theory, CFM, ICM, and arousal theory, this study characterizes the emotional responses of social media users and verifies how emotional factors affect the number of reposts of social media content after two natural disasters (predictable and unpredictable disasters). In addition, results from defining the influential users as those with many followers and high activity users and then characterizing how they affect the number of reposts after natural disasters
    1. . Furthermore, our results add to the growing body of literature documenting—at least at this historical moment—the link between extreme right-wing ideology and misinformation8,14,24 (although, of course, factors other than ideology are also associated with misinformation sharing, such as polarization25 and inattention17,37).

      Misinformation exposure and extreme right-wing ideology appear associated in this report. Others find that it is partisanship that predicts susceptibility.

    2. We found that users who followed elites who made more false or inaccurate statements themselves shared news from lower-quality news outlets (as judged by both fact-checkers and politically-balanced crowds of laypeople), used more toxic language, and expressed more moral outrage.

      Elite mis and disinformation sharers have a negative effect on followers.

    3. Estimated ideological extremity is associated with higher elite misinformation-exposure scores for estimated conservatives more so than estimated liberals.

      Political ideology is estimated using accounts followed10. b Political ideology is estimated using domains shared30 (Red: conservative, blue: liberal). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

      Estimated ideological extremity is associated with higher language toxicity and moral outrage scores for estimated conservatives more so than estimated liberals.

      The relationship between estimated political ideology and (a) language toxicity and (b) expressions of moral outrage. Extreme values are winsorized by 95% quantile for visualization purposes. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

    4. In the co-share network, a cluster of websites shared more by conservatives is also shared more by users with higher misinformation exposure scores.

      Nodes represent website domains shared by at least 20 users in our dataset and edges are weighted based on common users who shared them. a Separate colors represent different clusters of websites determined using community-detection algorithms29. b The intensity of the color of each node shows the average misinformation-exposure score of users who shared the website domain (darker = higher PolitiFact score). c Nodes’ color represents the average estimated ideology of the users who shared the website domain (red: conservative, blue: liberal). d The intensity of the color of each node shows the average use of language toxicity by users who shared the website domain (darker = higher use of toxic language). e The intensity of the color of each node shows the average expression of moral outrage by users who shared the website domain (darker = higher expression of moral outrage). Nodes are positioned using directed-force layout on the weighted network.

    5. Exposure to elite misinformation is associated with the use of toxic language and moral outrage.

      Shown is the relationship between users’ misinformation-exposure scores and (a) the toxicity of the language used in their tweets, measured using the Google Jigsaw Perspective API27, and (b) the extent to which their tweets involved expressions of moral outrage, measured using the algorithm from ref. 28. Extreme values are winsorized by 95% quantile for visualization purposes. Small dots in the background show individual observations; large dots show the average value across bins of size 0.1, with size of dots proportional to the number of observations in each bin. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

    6. We found that misinformation-exposure scores are significantly positively related to language toxicity (Fig. 3a; b = 0.129, 95% CI = [0.098, 0.159], SE = 0.015, t (4121) = 8.323, p < 0.001; b = 0.319, 95% CI = [0.274, 0.365], SE = 0.023, t (4106) = 13.747, p < 0.001 when controlling for estimated ideology) and expressions of moral outrage (Fig. 3b; b = 0.107, 95% CI = [0.076, 0.137], SE = 0.015, t (4143) = 14.243, p < 0.001; b = 0.329, 95% CI = [0.283,0.374], SE = 0.023, t (4128) = 14.243, p < 0.001 when controlling for estimated ideology). See Supplementary Tables 1, 2 for full regression tables and Supplementary Tables 3–6 for the robustness of our results.
    1. The psychology of hate: Moral concerns differentiate hate from dislike

      The effect of hate versus dislike on morality judgments (a) and moral emotions (b) in Study 2. Hated objects were rated as significantly more tied to core moral beliefs and moral emotions than disliked attitude objects.

      The effect of hate versus dislike on ratings of (a) negativity, (b) morality and (c) attitude strength in Study 3. Hated objects were rated as significantly more negative and were more associated with attitude strength than disliked objects but received similar ratings in negativity and attitude strength as extremely disliked objects. Hated objects were rated as more related to morality than extremely disliked attitude objects and disliked attitude objects.

      Results

      Consistent with our three laboratory studies, this analysis of real-world hate groups lent further support to the morality hypothesis. The language of hate groups was different, in the moral domain, from that of complain forums. These results reflect real, uncensored language used by groups and individuals known to espouse hate or dislike, and often known to take significant actions in support of these attitudes. Importantly, the expressions of these groups and individuals are less likely to involve their own lay theories about hate or dislike—but rather their public positions on these issues. There are, admittedly, several differences between hate websites and complaint forums and these data should be treated as preliminary. But taken together with the carefully controlled lab experiments, this overall pattern of findings suggests that morality helps differentiate expressions of hate from expressions of dislike.

  8. Aug 2022
  9. Jul 2022
    1. Harmless, surely? Who would deny that it’s vital that my values be ones I’ve properly signed up for rather than had simply foisted upon me — by my parents, my teachers, my culture? But this truism — that I will more likely be able to live out a set of values if I have consciously adopted them — doesn’t exhaust the sense of what’s being said. My psychologist is implying something more radical when he insists on the pivotal importance of choosing your own values. When he claims that “values are subjective,” he is painting a picture of the world according to which the only values that exist are ones we have created. To say values are subjective is to say there is nothing independent of our own minds that answers to our talk of right and wrong. It is to say that our ethical beliefs do not track a reality which is “there anyway.” According to his picture, values are determined, not discovered, and selfhood — what it means to be a person — is therefore fundamentally about choice, not vision. It is about picking a course of action arbitrarily, not about seeing a reality that transcends you — goodness — and integrating with it.

      By saying that values are subjective you are saying that values are determined and not discovered. That there is no "reality that transcends you" which contains good and band, that you can integrate with.

  10. Apr 2022
    1. Every work of art can be read, according to Eco, in three distinct ways: the moral, the allegorical and the anagogical.

      Umberto Eco indicates that every work of art can be read in one of three ways: - moral, - allegorical - anagogical

      Compare this to early Christianities which had various different readings of the scriptures.

      Relate this also to the idea of Heraclitus and the not stepping into the same river twice as a viewer can view a work multiple times in different physical and personal contexts which will change their mood and interpretation of the work.

  11. Feb 2022
  12. inst-fs-iad-prod.inscloudgate.net inst-fs-iad-prod.inscloudgate.net
    1. he gaps between data scientists and critics are wide, but critique di-vorced from practice only increases them.

      In my opinion this struggle needs to play out. Data science can always be streamlined to remove the bias that everyone has. the conflict this article speaks of is just the natural progression of what has been happening already. The only way this will get better is through constant struggle, just like everything else.

  13. Nov 2021
  14. Oct 2021
    1. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/facebook-papers-democracy-election-zuckerberg/620478/

      Adrienne LaFrance outlines the reasons we need to either abandon Facebook or cause some more extreme regulation of it and how it operates.

      While she outlines the ills, she doesn't make a specific plea about the solution of the problem. There's definitely a raging fire in the theater, but no one seems to know what to do about it. We're just sitting here watching the structure burn down around us. We need clearer plans for what must be done to solve this problem.

    2. “While we have other systems that demote content that might violate our specific policies, like hate speech or nudity, this intervention reduces all content with equal strength. Because it is so blunt, and reduces positive and completely benign speech alongside potentially inflammatory or violent rhetoric, we use it sparingly.”)

      If it's neither moral nor legal for one to shout "fire" in a crowded theater, why is it somehow both legal and moral for a service like Facebook to allow their service to scream "fire, fire, fire" within a crowded society?

    3. that many of Facebook’s employees believe their company operates without a moral compass.

      Not just Facebook, but specifically Mark Zuckerberg who appears to be on the spectrum and isn't capable of being moral in a traditional sense.

  15. Sep 2021
    1. The tunnel far below represented Nevada’s latest salvo in a simmering water war: the construction of a $1.4 billion drainage hole to ensure that if the lake ever ran dry, Las Vegas could get the very last drop

      Deep Concept: Modern America is mostly corrupt from it's own creation of wealth. Wealth is power, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely! Money and wealth have completely changed the underlying foundation of America. Modern America is the corrupted result of wealth. Morality and ethics in modern American have been reshaped to "fit" European Aristocracy, ironically the same European aristocracy America fled in the Revolutionary War.

      Billions and billions of tax payer money is spent on projects that could never pass rigorous examination and best public ROI use. Political authoritative conditions rule public tax money for the benefit of a few at the expense of the many. The public "cult-like" sheep have no clue how they are being abused.

      The authoritative abusers (politicians) follow the "mostly" corrupt American (fuck-you) form of government and individual power tactics that have been conveniently embedded in corrupt modern morality and ethics, used by corrupted lawyers and judges to codify the fundamental moral code that underpins the original American Constitution.

  16. Jun 2021
  17. Apr 2021
  18. Mar 2021
  19. Dec 2020
    1. conservatives

      Conservatives stand for honesty, integrity, morality, and steely-eyed realism. We hold our opinions because we are confident that they are correct, we have the confidence in them to encourage free and open debate, and if our opinions are shown to be wrong we gratefully accept the correction of our errors.

      Modern liberalism (not to be confused with classical liberalism) is the opposite. It is characterized by dishonesty and immorality (both typically excused with the platitude that "everybody does it"), self-delusion, and a reflexive resort to censorship and worse. ("Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out." -David Horowitz)

      You see that in the climate debates, where leftists (climate activists) have repeatedly been caught manipulating, withholding, exaggerating, or even fabricating evidence, flouting the law, blackballing skeptics, and censoring contrary viewpoints, to promote the CAGW scare. The major blogs, publications, and institutions which climate activists control are ruthlessly censored, to suppress dissent.

      In stark contrast, the most prominent conservative (climate realist) blogs and institutions actively encourage open discussion and dissent. That's why, for example, WUWT is so obviously and strikingly superior to any of the leftists' climate blogs.

      Unfortunately, some people who call themselves "conservative" don't act like it. I'm tired of self-identified conservatives, like Michael Shannon, raging about Republicans' lack of conservatism, while they, themselves, behave like liberals.

      If Mr. Shannon were really a conservative, he wouldn't censor his blog, to suppress expression of opinions different from his own. Unfortunately, that's exactly what he does. That's why you don't see the following comment in the comments section, on this article:

      · ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

      Your comment is awaiting moderation.

      1.If conservatives can’t win Republican primaries, they certainly cannot hope to win as third-party candidates running against both Republicans and Democrats.

      2.If so-called “conservatives” don’t care about anything but money, they’re no more conservative than the country clubbers whose Republican identity is based entirely on their desire for low taxes.

      There’s something very, very wrong with a 785-word rant accusing Republicans of being “morally corrupt,” which talks almost exclusively about… money. In 785 words you devoted a grand total of three words to a passing mention of moral issues.

      One in four American babies die by “choice,” but you never mentioned it.

      The courts have spent the last eighty years brazenly lying to impose progressive agendas, and trampling the nation’s fifty-one constitutions in the process, yet now, for the first time in eight decades, honest jurors might actually have a slender majority on the SCOTUS, but you never mentioned it.

      The American family is in tatters, with 39.6% of babies born out of wedlock in 2018, but you used the word “family” just once, and never mentioned illegitimacy.

      The academy has been mostly taken over by far-left crackpots and atheists, who do everything in their power to crush all dissent, who enforce values antithetical to Christian morality, and who have created entire disciplines dedicated to promoting leftist lunacy, but you never mentioned it.

      Academics expose corruption in Grievance Studies

      Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera

      The misallocation of federal monies is a real problem, but it is far from the only problem, it is far from our most important problem, and it is only peripherally a moral issue. If you’re going to editorialize about moral corruption, you should talk about morality, not just money.

  20. Oct 2020
    1. It’s only by accident we’ve heard of it

      Interesting way to put it, and also a hard truth for humanity in general. "What we don't know can't hurt us" is an argument that can be applied to a myriad of things due to the processing or production of which, other parties get affected negatively. From food, to clothes, to technology ect. Like an unavoidable 'selective' morality.

  21. Sep 2020
  22. Jul 2020
  23. Jun 2020
  24. May 2020
  25. Apr 2020
    1. Why the Golden Rule isn't enough

      Mengzian extension models general moral concern on the natural concern we already have for people close to us, while the Golden Rule models general moral concern on concern for oneself.

      Ilike Mengzian extension better for three reasons. First, Mengzian extension is more psychologically plausible as a model of moral development. People do, naturally, have concern and compassion for others around them. Explicit exhortations aren’t needed to produce this natural concern and compassion, and these natural reactions are likely to be the main seed from which mature moral cognition grows. Our moral reactions to vivid, nearby cases become the bases for more general principles and policies. If you need to reason or analogise your way into concern even for close family members, you’re already in deep moral trouble.

      Second, Mengzian extension is less ambitious – in a good way. The Golden Rule imagines a leap from self-interest to generalised good treatment of others. This might be excellent and helpful advice, perhaps especially for people who are already concerned about others and thinking about how to implement that concern. But Mengzian extension has the advantage of starting the cognitive project much nearer the target, requiring less of a leap. Self-to-other is a huge moral and ontological divide. Family-to-neighbour, neighbour-to-fellow citizen – that’s much less of a divide.

      Third, you can turn Mengzian extension back on yourself, if you are one of those people who has trouble standing up for your own interests – if you’re the type of person who is excessively hard on yourself or who tends to defer a bit too much to others. You would want to stand up for your loved ones and help them flourish. Apply Mengzian extension, and offer the same kindness to yourself. If you’d want your father to be able to take a vacation, realise that you probably deserve a vacation too. If you wouldn’t want your sister to be insulted by her spouse in public, realise that you too shouldn’t have to suffer that indignity.

  26. Jan 2020
    1. Audiences had strong reactions to the new disturbing themes the horror plays presented. One of the most prevalent themes staged at the Grand-Guignol was the demoralization and corruption of science. The "evil doctor" was a reoccurring trope in the horror shows performed.

      Development idea: Bring back the Grand Guignol, but have evil politicians instead.

    1. One of the essays comes from Charles Keating, Jr., a conservative whom Nixon added to the body after having created a vacancy by dispatching another commissioner to be ambassador to India. Keating was founder of Citizens for Decent Literature and a frequent filer of amicus curiae briefs to the Supreme Court in the Ginzberg, Mishkin, and Fanny Hill obscenity cases. Later, Keating was at the center of the 1989 savings and loan scandal — a foretelling of the 2008 financial crisis — which landed him in prison. Funny how our supposed moral guardians — Nixon or Keating, Pence or Graham — end up disgracing themselves; but I digress.
  27. Dec 2019
    1. Solon

      Solon (c.  638 – c.  558 BC) was an Athenian poet, statesman, and lawmaker. In Plutarch's telling, he is particularly notable for his efforts to legislate against political, economic, and moral decline in pre-Socratic Athens.

    2. loathsome in itself, but which had taken an irresistible hold of my imagination

      Victor recognizes that grave robbing and animal torture are "loathsome activities," but imagining the "great object" of their results overpowers his conscious. Here, Shelley seems to explore the relation between imagination, morality, and convention, and to what extent feelings express what ought to be done morally.

    3. Seneca

      Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC – AD 65) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, moralist, and dramatist. He was forced to commit suicide by Nero after allegedly plotting the Emperor's death.

    4. the gentle ass

      In the fable by Aesop, a donkey becomes jealous of his farmer's lap-dog and tries to imitate it by jumping onto the farmer's lap, angering the farmer who punishes him. The moral is not to try to be something you are not. The Creature's situation inverts this lesson, however, since he is trying to be himself but is still rejected.

    5. the words of my father: “I know that while you are pleased with yourself, you will think of us with affection, and we shall hear regularly from you.

      Victor recalls his father's judgments as a moral compass. Being "pleased with yourself," in his father's view, shows an egotism that is at odds with the familial and social feelings of "affection," one of the novel's most important arguments.

  28. Nov 2019
    1. If race is always about people of color,

      It wasn't until very recently that I, as a white person, felt like I could really lead work on racism because I am white. I think white people are socialized to believe that we can't speak on racism because we don't have direct experience with it. Of course, that assumes that unless you are a neo-Nazi, you do not participate in racism. I think a simple early lesson to teach our white students is that racism is about us, and it is not only okay for us to engage in these conversations, but we are morally compelled to do so.

  29. Jul 2019
    1. So the solution for the U.S.’s relatively high poverty rate will probably rely little on personal responsibility and moral rectitude. Instead, the U.S. should look to European countries, or to Australia and Canada, for ideas on how to reduce poverty. There’s just no substitute for a strong social safety net.

      Poverty is not due to individuals, especially when class mobility in the USA does not exist anymore.

    1. STEALING large bunches of lavender from a farmer’s field is not “cute”, it’s not a “memento”, it’s not “helping to put the place on the map” – it’s THEFT, following a spell of TRESPASS onto that owner’s land.

      An interesting look at "influencer morality".

  30. May 2019
    1. The first difficulty is that the robot’s utility function did not quite match our utility function. Our utility function is 1 if the cauldron is full, 0 if the cauldron is empty, −10 points to whatever the outcome was if the workshop has flooded, +0.2 points if it’s funny, −1,000 points (probably a bit more than that on this scale) if someone gets killed … and it just goes on and on and on.

      But it is very difficult to fully express these utility functions in code. The goal is to literally turn our ethics into code -- to translate them into coherent data structures, algorithms, and decision trees. We want to deduce our moral intuitions and more.

  31. Apr 2019
    1. hence, it appears that the Internet is encouraging bad morals

      This is an interesting take. The Internet - a thing - is given volition. It "encourages", it tempts. Hardly the first time we've seen this with technology, but it's part of that misallocation of causes.

  32. Feb 2019
    1. one's moral values will rise to the corresponding level.

      This reminds me of the "Q" question, the assumption that just exposure to literature will inculcate an upstanding character: the banner model for humanities education.

  33. Jan 2019
    1. We can begin to envisage as well how a theory of reading and writing can become a training in moral judgment.

      If this is the case, what is rhetoric's relation to morality?

    1. The Victorian periodical The Westminster Review wrote that the introduction of gas lamps would do more to eliminate immorality and criminality on the streets than any number of church sermons.
  34. Sep 2018
    1. Instead of taking these characteristics and saying that they are the basis for “human dignity,” why don’t we simply accept our destiny as creatures who modify themselves?

      He mentioned several times that human nature can be the basis for values and morality, but here he says that human nature is subject to change. In that case It sounds like he believes that the standards of morality and value which are based on human nature should also change and that doesn't sound like very firm ground to stand on.

    1. Another approach to confinement is to build rules into the mind of the created superhuman entity (for example, Asimovs Laws of Robotics). I think that any rules strict enough to be effective would also produce a device whose ability was clearly inferior to the unfettered versions (so human competition would favor the development of the more dangerous models).

      The author points out that human competition, which thus far has driven the exponential development/advancement of technology, would drive developers towards the "unfettered versions." While I agree that it would likely be the case, I think it's possible that the author is underestimating how much of ourselves would likely end up in the superhuman. Aspects of humanity that were likely never intended to be in the superhuman, but will end up there inherently due to who is programming it.

  35. Dec 2017
    1. This degree of medical information is such as the mass of scientific students would wish to possess, as enabling them, in their course thro life, to estimate with satisfaction the extent & limits of the aid to human life & health, which they may understandingly expect from that art: and it constitutes such a foundation for those intended for the profession, that the finishing course of practice at the bedsides of the sick, and at the operations of surgery in a hospital, can neither be long nor expensive.

      The authors of the Rockfish Gap Report recognized the need to create curriculum that focused on the moral/ethical implications of medical practice. The fact that the "extent & limits" of the practice is emphasized here demonstrates that there is more to care than simply repairing the body on an anatomical level, thus prompting the need for a more compassionate kind of care. The initial purpose of UVA's medical curriculum was to create a more compassionate pool of health-providers, and this vision persists today in programs like the nursing school's Compassionate Care initiative. This fully aligns with Jefferson's belief that students should focus on their area of study from a micro and macro level, synthesizing knowledge of the hard sciences with philosophical and ethical inquiry.

    2. John Robinson of Rockbridge County, has executed a deed to the President & Directors of the Literary fund, to take effect at his death for the following tracts of Land, to wit

      The development of the University was an incredible feat that I am sure many wanted to be a part of. John Robinson likely hoped to do some good in death by having his final legacy be contributing his land and slaves for the university's use. Though Lexington was not chosen as the site for the University, Robinson's willingness to donate the wealth he accumulated throughout his lifetime to UVA demonstrates the human tendency to be a part of a cause greater than who they are individually, thus in a sense defying death.

  36. Nov 2017
    1. To develope the reasoning faculties of our youth, enlarge their minds cultivate their morals, & instil into them the precepts of virtue & order.

      I do not think this goal was possible with the existence of slaves at UVA. No one can accept the most immoral institution and remain moral. I find excerpts like this extremely interesting, as these men apparently valued virtue but still supported the university’s ownership of slaves. The existence of slaves also cultivated a racist mindset among the students, not a "virtuous" one, which was counterproductive to the founders’ goal.

  37. Oct 2017
    1. To give to every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business. To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express & preserve his ideas, his contracts & accounts in writing.

      This part of the text makes it known that everyone who was to be involved in the University's establishment should have the right of knowing what goes on with his own transactions. While reading this, i was constantly reminded of how my engagement constantly talks about people having the right to control what goes on to their bodies. Some people choose to stay ignorant to the problems going on in their body while others care to know what is going on and what indeed is the best way to proceed forward. It is all a right and in no way, shape, or form should this right be violated and/or questioned. I believe that while, several other aspects of the document were designed for failure, this section provided some sort of hope for equality and self awareness. - Kayla Thomas

    2. Education, in like manner engrafts a new man on the native stock, & improves what in his nature was vicious & perverse

      This section reminded me of the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes who believed the nature of man is inherently bad and the purpose of government and education is to control man's selfish desires. In my opinion, I side more with John Locke's philosophy that the nature of man is inherently good but society is corrupted by certain negative people. Education's purpose should be to remind people of their virtuous nature and not become distracted by the inequalities and failures of society.

    3. To understand his duties to his neighbours, & country, and to discharge with competence the functions confided to him by either.

      This idea seems to be really important in being a conscious and involved member of society in our time. In light of recent events, we can look to interpret the "duties to [our] neighbors" to mean that we need to care for and support each other, regardless of differences.

    4. enlarge their minds cultivate their morals

      The report consistently gives reference and importance to the student's morals. I think that this is ironic because the morals of the university have changed so much since the commencement of the university. It was acceptable in 1819 to consider slaves as property, not people. This was something that did not exist on student's moral compass until about 1953, when the first black student stepped on grounds. And even then, students and faculty pushed Mr. Gregory Swanson (the first black student at uva) to leave because of all the ridicule he dealt with. So, was the university truly built on morals if we could not accept all? Morals of the university have thankfully changed over time.

    5. To improve by reading, his morals and faculties.

      I think the term "morals" is interesting in this sentence considering the time period. One of the morals that most people lacked during this time period was owning slaves.The next sentence also says "understand his duties to his neighbors, and country." However, his duty was only to treat white people right and either discard or treat minorities unfairly. It also say "the functions confided to him by either." The crazy thing is the a lot of the people in the country were not represented or given the function to confide in him.

  38. Sep 2017
    1. that to secure Ourselves where we are, we must tread with awfull reverence in the footsteps of Our fathers.

      The word "secure" demonstrates a need for status and purpose. This seems interesting in reflecting on the document as a whole, which is essentially a declaration of establishment and is securing the meaning of the university. "Tread with awful reverence" prompts a reflection upon what is considered a good and valuable life in this situation. Do we need to keep this reverence in mind with all decisions that come with the progression of the school? Tana Mardian

    2. Districts of such extent as that every parent should be within a days journey of his son at school, would be desirable in cases of sickness

      In my Mortality and Morality engagement class, we often times talk about the role of family in the event that someone does become sick and how their presence can make a huge impact on how a situation is carried out. Family is often time seen as an extra layer of protection over any individual, especially for children. We assume that children are not old enough or mature enough to make major decisions for themselves, so it is ideal to keep them within reach in case of emergency. Therefore, if a school can supply resources that could be beneficial in times of need many parents would view that as a plus. - Kayla Thomas

  39. Apr 2017
    1. Evil is always evil, and it may be thought of, perhaps, as essentially destructive, a willed and deliberate negation of organic life. It is always evil to kill another human being, even though it is sometimes right to do so.

      A fascinating distinction.

  40. Mar 2017
  41. Feb 2017
    1. Conspiracy theorists have argued that the AIDS virus was deliberately created as part of a plot to kill black or gay people

      "Those who found morality on sentiment, more than on reason, are inclined to comprehend ethics under the former observation, and to maintain, that, in all questions, which regard conduct and manners, the difference among men is really greater than at first sight it appears." - Hume

  42. Jan 2017
  43. Sep 2015
    1. . Psychologists have thought about morality primarily as a system of rules that prevents people from hurting each other and taking their possessions. But I believe that morality is much richer and more balanced. Most people don’t want to rape, steal, and kill. What they really want is to live in a moral community where people treat each other well, and in which they can satisfy their needs for love, productive work, and a sense of belonging to groups of which they are proud. We get a visceral sense that we do not live in such a moral world when we see people behave in petty, cruel, or selfish ways. But when we see a stranger perform a simple act of kindness for another stranger, it gives us a thrilling sense that maybe we do live in such a world.
  44. Jul 2015
    1. depending on the degree of concavity of utility, which also can be interpreted in an aggregate model as the degree of aversion to income inequality in society.

      This is always the kicker in policy questions and where rational people can actually disagree. People have different valuations of the same moral ideals. This is why I periodically try to imagine the basis of my morality space and evaluate to what extent it is orthonormal.

  45. Nov 2013
    1. He says, for example, "I am rich," when the proper designation for his condition would be "poor." He misuses fixed conventions by means of arbitrary substitutions or even reversals of names. If he does this in a selfish and moreover harmful manner, society will cease to trust him and will thereby exclude him.

      This seems like a punishment, but we are looking at it with our moral lens.

    2. This peace treaty brings in its wake something which appears to be the first step toward acquiring that puzzling truth drive: to wit, that which shall count as "truth" from now on is established. That is to say, a uniformly valid and binding designation is invented for things, and this legislation of language likewise establishes the first laws of truth.

      Truth without morality. Truth because of social conventions.

    3. What men avoid by excluding the liar is not so much being defrauded as it is being harmed by means of fraud. Thus, even at this stage, what they hate is basically not deception itself, but rather the unpleasant, hated consequences of certain sorts of deception.

      We think we dislike deception, but we really hate the consequences of that choice. It has not yet gained the moral distinction.

    1. I shall not object to your opinion that moral virtue is undoubtedly useful and suitable for the use of all arts, but in no way shall I admit that any art is a moral virtue.

      shedding the art of implied moral and philosophical attributes

    2. For although I admit that rhetoric is a virtue, it is virtue of the mind and the intelligence, as in all the true liberal arts, whose followers can still be men of the utmost moral depravity. Nor is rhetoric a moral virtue as Quintilian thinks, so that whoever possesses it is incapable )f being a wicked man

      This sounds more realiistic

  46. Oct 2013
    1. Of these professors the morals must first be ascertained, a point of which I proceed to treat in this part of my work, not because I do not think that the same examination is to be made, and with the utmost care, in regard also to other teachers (as indeed I have shown in the preceding book), but because the very age of the pupils makes attention to the matter still more necessary. 3. For boys are consigned to these professors when almost grown up and continue their studies under them even after they are become men. Greater care must in consequence be adopted with regard to them in order that the purity of the master may secure their more tender years from corruption and that his authority deter their bolder age from licentiousness. 4. Nor is it enough that he give, in himself, an example of the strictest morality, unless he regulate also, by severity of discipline, the conduct of those who come to receive his instructions.
    2. Of these professors the morals must first be ascertained, a point of which I proceed to treat in this part of my work, not because I do not think that the same examination is to be made, and with the utmost care, in regard also to other teachers (as indeed I have shown in the preceding book), but because the very age of the pupils makes attention to the matter still more necessary

      morality a central issue. Teaching children while young and still susceptible

    1. People think that morals are corrupted in schools; indeed they are at times corrupted, but such may be the case even at home. Many proofs of this fact may be adduced; proofs of character having been vitiated, as well as preserved, with the utmost purity under both modes of education. It is the disposition of the individual pupil, and the care taken of him, that make the whole difference

      Here's the thing: there is compelling contemporary psychological evidence that shows that our moral behaviors are, in fact, greatly influenced by our environment. Even those of us who are steadfast in our moral convictions are influenced. So it makes sense to place the even more susceptible youth in suitable environment to at least aid in proper moral development.

  47. Sep 2013
    1. These charges are of two kinds. Some of them say that the profession of the sophist is nothing but sham and chicane, maintaining that no kind of education has ever been discovered which can improve a man's ability to speak or his capacity for handling affairs, and that those who excel in these respects owe their superiority to natural gifts; while others acknowledge that men who take this training are more able, but complain that they are corrupted and demoralized by it

      Charges against rhetoric

    1. neglected all the good things which this study affords, and became nothing more than professors of meddlesomeness and greed