Mike Huemer: There has been enormous moral progress over human history. This progressis not just a matter of changing practices but of changing moral beliefs. Modern humans are far more liberal than those of earlier ages; mainstream illiberal views of earlier centuries are shocking and absurd to modern readers. The trend toward liberalization is consistent across many issues. War, murder, slavery, democracy, women’s suffrage, racial segregation, torture, execution, colonization: on all these issues we have seen dramatic attitude shifts, all in the liberal direction. It is difficult to think of any issue on which attitudes have moved in the other direction. This trend has been ongoing for millennia, accelerating in the last two centuries, and even the last fifty years, and it affects virtually every country on Earth. That is a very striking empirical fact – indeed, it is among the most important trends in human history. How are we to explain all this? -- Spoiler: People are apprehending objective morality better and better over time.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 02:30:46 +0000
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