What Can Replace Morality?

To build a stronger case for the view that humanity would benefit from the universal rejection of morality, it would help to demonstrate that we have at our disposal the kinds of resources that could provide the various benefits that morality offers in terms of fostering cooperation, etc. In this chapter I will argue that we do, in fact, have at our disposal the resources—namely self-interest, empathy, and reason—that can provide the various advantages that morality offers without encumbering us with the numerous disadvantages that I spelled out in earlier chapters. To make my case, I will devote one section each to exploring the nature and benefits of empathy, self-interest, and reason. A key feature of my overall argument in this chapter is an empirically plausible account of how people’s interests are generally connected to those of others.