TDB Posted May 19, 2014 Posted May 19, 2014 UPB stands for universally preferable behaviour. It is a framework used for testing moral propositions. That means, you find a moral proposition and you subject it to tests. Those that fail are false, those that pass are true. True means enforceable, though Stef has left the details of enforcement vague. The main requirement for moral propositions to pass the tests is universality. The proposition must apply to all moral agents at all times and places. Stef uses universality to argue for the coma test and the 2 guys in a room test. Moral agents must also have free choice, in the sense that no one is explicitly coercing them. That is, if I hold a gun to your head and threaten to kill you if you disobey me, I have nullified your responsibility for your actions, according to Stef. The coma test claims that, due to universality, no one is obligated to do anything that a person in a coma is not also obligated to do. Since a coma victim can't do anything but lie there and breathe, no one is required to do more. The 2 guys in a room test investigates whether 2 persons can be moral at the same time and place. If a moral proposition excludes this possibility, it fails the test. If you forget everything else, UPB is about condemning hypocrisy. Forum thread http://board.freedomainradio.com/topic/39599-what-does-upb-mean/
TDB Posted May 21, 2014 Author Posted May 21, 2014 There's been a discussion of UPB over on liberty.me. My spur-of-the-moment summary of UPB was:The purpose of UPB is to examine moral propositions and categorize them as true or false. Stef has several tests for this, including non-contradiction and feasibility. Moral propositions that pass the tests are considered true, those that fail are false. That provides a basis for categorizing action as either violating or conforming to the true moral propositions.
Recommended Posts