Prejudice is central to maintaining public morality
If you take out prejudice, with "pure reason", it will get very hard for norms to develop in society
There will be too much unpredictability in people's behavior. Too heavy a reliance on law and order. A more fragile society
If you take out prejudice, with "pure reason", it will get very hard for norms to develop in society
There will be too much unpredictability in people's behavior. Too heavy a reliance on law and order. A more fragile society
Take prejudices as basic as -
"Avoid relationships outside marriage"
"Don't have kids before marriage"
These prejudices can go such a long way in ensuring better public health, lower crime, greater familial stability
"Avoid relationships outside marriage"
"Don't have kids before marriage"
These prejudices can go such a long way in ensuring better public health, lower crime, greater familial stability
Then we have social conventions / prejudices that have evolved in a culture.
E.g. The bride goes to the husband's place after marriage
(at least in a ritual sense)
These rituals reduce our choices, and can greatly simplify decision making in the early months of marriage
E.g. The bride goes to the husband's place after marriage
(at least in a ritual sense)
These rituals reduce our choices, and can greatly simplify decision making in the early months of marriage
This doesn't mean every bride will move in for "lifetime" with her husband's family
But what the ritual does is -
It takes out options from the table...and lends a certain regularity to early marital life.
By removing choices, it enables couples to focus on other things
But what the ritual does is -
It takes out options from the table...and lends a certain regularity to early marital life.
By removing choices, it enables couples to focus on other things
Let's take another useful prejudice
The surname of the kid is that of the father, no matter how distinguished the mother is
Again the convention reduces costs. Reduces endless debates / fights in every house. By offering a fait-accompli, it regularizes domestic life
The surname of the kid is that of the father, no matter how distinguished the mother is
Again the convention reduces costs. Reduces endless debates / fights in every house. By offering a fait-accompli, it regularizes domestic life
Primogeniture is another example -
An ancient English prejudice that aided the rise of the English nation in the late middle ages
By letting the eldest son inherit the entire estate, it greatly reduced transaction costs
Also clarifying things to each kid right at their birth
An ancient English prejudice that aided the rise of the English nation in the late middle ages
By letting the eldest son inherit the entire estate, it greatly reduced transaction costs
Also clarifying things to each kid right at their birth
Primogeniture may seem unfair from the standpoint of "pure reason"
But our minuscule powers of reason don't see the implications fully
Primogeniture actually promoted social mobility and encouraged adventure, by letting younger kids to move out and chart their own course
But our minuscule powers of reason don't see the implications fully
Primogeniture actually promoted social mobility and encouraged adventure, by letting younger kids to move out and chart their own course
This is from an exchange with @GabrielFox_1
What universal education and promotion of "reason" has done is -
We now have a society full of middle brow people who frown on ancient prejudices
What universal education and promotion of "reason" has done is -
We now have a society full of middle brow people who frown on ancient prejudices
Who are smart enough to criticize the "first order" effects of prejudices
But not smart enough to see through the deeper implications and the wisdom buried in them
But not smart enough to see through the deeper implications and the wisdom buried in them
