The Ethics of Meaning-Making

Sufficiently uncompromising meaning-making is unethical violence, and the ethically optimal amount of anomie, or uncertainty, is not zero. Meaning-making becomes dangerous when it seeks to eliminate uncertainty, producing escalation, insulation, instrumentalization of others, and nihilistic drift, illustrated with citizens responding to refugees. It proposes restraining this drive with deontological limits, consequentialist feedback to evidence, and virtues such as compassion, humility, and courage. A pasted ChatGPT session describes the co-authoring protocol used to write it.