One cannot help but have the utmost respect for Jonathan Leighton and all the work (not just books but career achievements) that he has put into what I consider (ethically) the *most important mission* one could take on, and that is to reduce/prevent the most extreme forms of suffering, as summed up nicely in the quote below.
"The xNU+ framework acknowledges that we have deep moral intuitions, and also a desire for continuity, and respects them as integral to being human, without placing them on the same level as the urgent elimination of intense suffering. It recasts the debate about the "correct" ethical framework as a search for a practical, sustainable inner balance in the tango between the agent aiming to act on the world and the romantic human with strong drives and intuitions that require attention." p.134
The first half of this book, largely focused on Leighton's grounding of xNU+, did not fail to frustrate me on a handful of occasions, poking almost deliberately at a few of my points of disagreement I have when it comes to grounding a general form of NU. I had similar qualms with his first work, 'The Battle for Compassion: Ethics in an Apathetic Universe'. Nonetheless, the topics discussed in the former half of this work, i.e. grounding from a moral realist vs non-realist perspective, the possibility of sufficiently metricizing hedonic states in principle and practice, how to manage issues of hedonic aggregation, etc are all extremely thorny topics, and ones for which I myself am far from sufficiently confident in m views. Hence, my frustrations with his approach rather made me cognizant of just how wonderful it was to have all of these majorly important topics in one place, in book-form, for an interested reader to grapple with, and likely catalyze my further investigation into them.
The second half of the book goes on to touch upon a variety of related topics, many of which have been a keen interest of mine for some time (marginal impact vs group coordination, anti-natalism, wild animal suffering, the benefits/costs of preserving the environment, etc.), but again almost no where are said topics brought together all in one place. The complexities at both the philosophical and practical levels amplify the importance of a book like this, and hopefully make it only the beginning of a burgeoning conversation and philosophical/political movement. One quote towards the end seems to sum it up well :)
"The metaphor of a tango may seem intentionally and frustratingly vague--a reluctance to commit to a clear ethical position. But there is actually a clear underlying commitment that is far from trivial: to the idea that existence does not justify extreme suffering. Yet once we exist, we are condemned to dance, and even indulge in some of the beauty that existence thrusts upon us." p.187
A few bonus quotes, amongst many, that really resonated with me..
"To claim, for example, not only that positive hedonic states have intrinsic value, but that we have a "moral obligation" to bring them into existence--by brining new people into the world who are happy and value their own existence--because morality is about increasing value, is, I believe, unfounded." p.63
"An essential driving motivation behind ethics is an awareness or at least approximate imagination of what intense suffering actually 'feels' like. Without compassionate, sentient being maintaining ultimate control, there is a risk that compassion can be lost as a driver. It's the intuitive sentient mind that screams moral outrage about cruelty towards sentient beings. Even a calculating mind needs to viscerally understand suffering in order to truly care." p.201
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Top reviews from other countries
Robert Daoust
An essential advance in the field of contemporary ethics
Reviewed in Canada on February 15, 2023
