Should our moral beliefs really prove to be dependent on factual assumptions shown to be incorrect, it would be hardly moral to defend them by refusing to acknowledge the facts.
Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- If moral beliefs depend on wrong facts, defending them by ignoring facts is itself immoral.
- In plain terms
- Do not defend morals by ignoring facts if those facts are wrong.
- What can you take from it?
- Accept facts even when they challenge moral beliefs.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What if facts change?
- How do we balance fact and value?
Another view
Sometimes facts are uncertain or disputed.
More from Friedrich Hayek
Our moral traditions developed concurrently with our reason, not as its product.
Permalink to quote #152 The argument for liberty is not an argument against organization, which is one of the most powerful tools human reason can employ, but an argument against all …
Permalink to quote #154 Only where we ourselves are responsible for our own interests and are free to sacrifice them has our decision moral value. We are neither entitled to be unself…
Permalink to quote #151
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