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    Spencer's absolute moral rules presuppose static human na... — Carmelics
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    Supports→Spencer's deductive hedonism fails as a moral system

    Spencer's absolute moral rules presuppose static human nature, but his own evolutionary framework entails that human psychology and hedonic responses are perpetually in flux, making permanent rules self-defeating.

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    Key Terms

    Absolute moral rules(what Spencer supposedly relied on)
    Ethical principles that are supposed to be true and binding in all situations and times, with no exceptions.
    Evolutionary framework(what Spencer himself believed in)
    A theory that explains how things (including human beings and behavior) gradually change and develop over long periods of time, adapting to their environment.
    Hedonic responses(part of human psychology that changes over time)
    The ways humans naturally react to pleasure and pain—basically what feels good or bad to us.
    Perpetually in flux(the state of human psychology according to evolution)
    Constantly changing and never staying the same; always in motion.
    Self-defeating(describes how using fictional dialogue would contradict the goal of accurate portraiture)

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    An action that works against its own purpose—like trying to stay dry by jumping in a pool.
    Spencer(as a key figure in naturalist philosophy)
    Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), an English philosopher who applied the idea of evolution to society and ethics, arguing that morality develops naturally from survival and competition.
    Static human nature(what absolute rules require)
    The idea that human beings have a fixed, unchanging set of basic characteristics and instincts that stay the same throughout history.

    Connections

    2 topics

    Consequentialism1 linkedVirtue Ethics1 linked

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    Spencer's deductive hedonism fails as a moral system

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