Originally published in No Set Gauge.

Dido Building Carthage, J. M. W. Turner

In every technological revolution, we face a choice: build for freedom or watch as others build for control.
-Brendan McCord

There are two moral frames that explain modern moral advances: utilitarianism and liberalism.

Utilitarianism says: “the greatest good for the greatest number”. It says we should maximize welfare, whatever that takes.

Liberalism says: “to each their own sphere of freedom”. We should grant everyone some boundary that others can’t violate, for example over their physical bodies and their property, and then let whatever happen as long as those boundaries aren’t violated.

(Before the philosophers show up and cancel me: “utilitarianism” and “liberalism” here are labels for two views, that correspond somewhat but not exactly to the normal uses of the phrases. The particular axis I talk about comes from my reading of Joe Carlsmith, who I’ll quote at length later in this post. Also, for the Americans: “liberalism” is not a synonym for “left-wing”.)