Subjective Ethics Unbound

We chase a moral imperative, each one of us, in our own way, as we interpret the sentiment of good. 

Too often those "good" moral targets are set in stone. Commandments from a mountain top or a gut feeling about what is right. Often, such righteousness is entirely self serving. When we stick to an absolute moral high ground, we have chosen a less mindful path that denies our agency to refine the the definition of goodness that can change with experience and reflection.

Each of us has a different backstory, a different point of view, and unless we want to embrace solipsism (the idea that the individual is the core center of the universe) consideration of the world around us is essential. We are part of a network of other conscious beings, perhaps all the way down to the quantum level. Such molecular consciousness, panpsychism, is lacking in evidence or mechanism, still I think the thought experiment is a useful reflection when considering our individual impact on the world around us.

On a daily basis, each of draw lines in the sand as to what is good or bad, but it is never black and white in reality, only in our minds. Subjective ethics might seem a copout if you can choose what is moral for any situation, but the ideal protocol is to be interactive and iterative in our living assessment and to adjust our values as we go for the best outcomes of all.

Dismissing supernatural beings as is a good start, as we have plenty of conscious beings to work with on Earth as is, and no good evidence for the gods and ghosts organized religion base their business models on. Placing our species ahead of others is as sensible as placing our tribe or family or nation ahead of others. There can be a practical reason in doing so, but when we recognize our end goal is to make the world a better place for all, we can adjust our actions to expand the goodness for all parties.

As sapient beings our judgement has a quality more refined than other species and so our actions ought to be more refined as well. We can avoid choices that we know would cause pain to the ones we love, those similar to us, and those nearest us physically. A black or white response might be easier, but a subjective response is better aligned with the intelligence and compassion of which we as humans are capable.

When the processes of compassion, reason, and desire become evident in our lives we are best able to optimize our ethical thinking and actions. Sorting evidence effectively, recognizing the conscious experience of others leads to an expansion of our ethical reach. Thus human individuals can grow beyond their inherited ethical systems, and pursue tolerance, humanism, sentientism, veganism, stoicism, and beyond toward better and better outcomes. 

The trick is staying every curious, reflective and open to change, as we reflect on the evolutionary and nurtured baselines that never quite go away.