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Universally Preferable Behaviour: A Rational Proof of Secular Ethics by [Stefan Molyneux]

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Stefan Molyneux

Universally Preferable Behaviour: A Rational Proof of Secular Ethics Kindle Edition

by Stefan Molyneux (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Stefan Molyneux, MA, is the host of Freedomain Radio, the largest and most popular philosophy show on the web.

Freedomain Radio was a Top 10 finalist in the 'Education' category in the 2007-2010 Podcast Awards, and has been named one of the 'Top 100 Most Inspiring and Innovative Blogs for Educators.'

In many fairy tales, there lives a terrible beast of stupendous power, a dragon or a basilisk, which tyrannizes the surrounding lands. The local villagers tremble before this monster; they sacrifice their animals, pay money and blood in the hopes of appeasing its murderous impulses. Year after year, decade after decade, wave after wave of hopeful champions try to match their strength, virtue and cunning against this terrible tyrant. Try – and fail. Inevitably, a man steps forward who strikes everyone as utterly incongruous. He is a stable boy, a shoemaker’s son, a baker’s apprentice – or sometimes, just a vagabond. This book is the story of my personal assault on just such a beast. This “beast” is the belief that it is impossible to define an objective, rational, secular and scientific ethical system. This “beast” is the illusion that morality must forever be lost in the irrational swamps of gods and governments, forever lacking logical justification and clear definition...

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177 pages
Language

English
Publication date

December 30, 2013
File size

840 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004Z81ZD4
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 30, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 840 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 177 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #483,713 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #129 in Good & Evil Philosophy
- #266 in Philosophy of Good & Evil
- #785 in Ethics & Morality

Customer Reviews:
101 ratings

About the author

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Stefan Molyneux

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Stefan Molyneux is the founder and host of Freedomain Radio, the largest and most popular philosophical show in the world. With more than 3,500 podcasts, 10 books and 250 million downloads, Stefan has spread the cause of liberty and philosophy to listeners throughout the world.

Prior to launching Freedomain Radio, Stefan built a thriving career as a software entrepreneur and executive. In 2006, he left his work in the tech industry to devote his efforts to Freedomain Radio. Now a full-time parent and philosopher, Stefan has given speeches at liberty-themed events all over the world. His speeches cover subjects ranging from politics, philosophy, economics, relationships, bitcoin, parenting and how to achieve real freedom in your life.

Past live appearances include presentations at the New Hampshire Liberty Forum, Libertopia, Students For Liberty, FreedomFest, LibertyNow, Capitalism and Morality, LibertyFest West, the Brazilian Mises Institute's Idieas em Movimento, Freedom Summit, and The Next Web Europe Conference.

Stefan has participated in a number of live debates, among them: "Bitcoin vs. Gold: The Future of Money" with Peter Schiff, "Zeitgeist Versus the Market" with Peter Joseph, "The Function of the State in Society" with Professor Vladimir Safatle and "How Much Government is Necessary?" with Michael Badnarik.

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3 star		9%
2 star		2%
1 star		6%

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Top reviews from the United States

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JTSanford

Superb dodging of nihilism with a core philosophy flaw?

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2019

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This review is for those that have read the book. While I do quite enjoy the writings and teachings, I find that the core philosophy presented in this book has a serious oversight. When UPB and the non aggression principle are both foundational doctrines within a society, what is to stop a child from having “relations” with an adult? If they are both consenting entities, why is it wrong? This is a simple question that I felt the book answers inadequately. The non-aggression principle prohibits force from being used to stop the relationship. How do you enforce the rules of society without some level of force? UPB has to be universally applied and accepted by the society as well, generating the problem of who gets to determine things like age standards for marriage, consent, and sexual relationships amongst other things? Eastern cultures would clash with western cultures in this regard as our definitions of adulthood differ continent to continent and even person to person. This book is as close as I have found to ethics outside of God, although ethics without a god is meaningless regardless of the strength of UPB. I appreciate this books attempt to dodge nihilism though. I hope that maybe the hole in this philosophy is reconsidered to allow for a more wholly adequate means of preventing theses types of underaged relationships. I find this to be an adequate argument against UPB. Hopefully the writer and some of you do as well.

3 people found this helpful

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Hamish

Mind blowing formulation of ethics

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2019

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Mind blowing formulation of ethics without the need for a deity. Provides a logically bulletproof way of defining what is good and what is bad without any need to invoke the supernatural, yet is in almost perfect harmony with Christian ethics.

It is a simple concept on its face, and many confuse it with Kant's categorical imperative, but don't be fooled, UPB is far deeper than this. For a great primer, check out the reasonably succinct video on youtube (search for "UPB: The Synopsis") and decide for yourself whether it is worth reading.

5 people found this helpful

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Philip C Dennis

A New Ethical Code for Peoplekind

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2020

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Enlightened reflection upon the oldest question our species still has unresolved (how to govern ourselves without either Religious or Secular tyrants. Well worth reading, reflecting, and considering for everyone.

2 people found this helpful

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Keith

Loved it!

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2019

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Finally a consistent case for ethics that does not require a deity. Up there with Hans Hoppe's Argumentation Ethics.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Best modern day philosophy

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2021

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Great addition to the libertarian collection. Some focus on economics and others on philosophy and boy did Stefan nail the philosophy. I see some are trying to equate libertarianism with child love or something, but i’ve found most of those people are just libs trying to conflate understandings. I’d be suspicious of any review that mentions anything about child love in it. These people are creeps

One person found this helpful

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Frank H.

Morality Without God?

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2017

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In this brief book, Stefan Molyneux explains step by step how humans can be moral without any mysticism at the the bottom.
Read the book. Upon completion you will be able to refute that person who says, “Oh, you don’t believe in god? So murder is okay with you.”

7 people found this helpful

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QR Winner

Corrupt Book Files

Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2020

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Once you hit chapter 1 and start flipping pages, whether you are using pc kindle ap or the kindle tablet. You will get blank pages. Can you guys fix this?

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Willie Carr

Shallow

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2020

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The author is lost in the trees, cannot see the forest. Rantings about taxes and aligns the words taxing and religion. ... Not the same subject! I suspect he got his education @ Trump University. Oh well. Not a complete waste of time. The writing is good.

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Top reviews from other countries

M. Lopes

Decent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 3, 2019

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For what it is worth, I'm a Christian reviewing this book by an atheist, and I did like it. It is good to see Atheists try to grapple properly with moral questions rather than just run face first into nihilism whilst in all irony affirming that it is the morally superior thing to do.

Stephan does indeed make the case, he demonstrates the reality of objective morality or ethics, and by using the kind of logic employed to demonstrate why the law of non contradiction is to be followed, he resolutely proves ethics.

The only problem however, is that is the easy part.
Imagine if you will that morality/ethics is a box. Proving it is actually trivially easy and religious people have known this all along.
The real fight comes in when you wish to affirm the contents of that box, which, unless atheism wishes to make and aught from an is which even Stephan affirms one should not do, it is impossible for atheism to fill this box and actually write the proper prescriptions.

He also establishes, whether knowingly or not, that morality and ethics are intrinsically tied into Telos, that is to say, what is the purpose of something. It is wrong to cut someone, unless by doing so you are a qualified person doing so for the purposes of life saving surgery. You do not violate people because there is the inbuilt assumption that that is not what they were meant for, and indeed, we all believe in some way that we are meant for something.

All morality implies a purpose to things and peoples, and again, atheism denies telos from the outset. Nature neither knows nor cares. Telos therefore, is completely subjective and no more than the imposition of an individual or society upon any given thing, which then runs completely against the fact that UPB is meant to be completely objective and universal, and is therefore a contradiction.

So whilst Stephan does well, he achieves the easy part, and I'm afraid that until he affirms something much more, he will never flesh out or properly justify the actual contents of UPB.

Tim

One Star

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2018

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Waste of money and time, like all Stefan Molyneux books and videos. You would do well to avoid this.

5 people found this helpful

Bannerman

A heroic attempt to codify morality in a structure that is logical and clear.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 14, 2018

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The core of this book is good, and likely to be true. There are a great deal of evidences and examples, which in some cases actually obscure the bones of the argument. That is a quibble: The argument goes much against some accepted norms and this supporting material is necessary as a result. There is a feeling of relief at the end, when the theory is summarised in a manner worthy of a master logician.

Gerardas Jurkevičius

Surprising and easy to read book - must read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 23, 2018

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Great book and a fairly easy read, breaking down big issues into smaller parts. Only thing that put me off was a bit of repetition, but that’s no dealbreaker. Some of the things mentioned here are really eye-opening and explain some libertarians positions, with facts, reason and evidence.

One person found this helpful

James Hampton Belton

A Moral System for the Modern World

Reviewed in Canada on July 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

If you have ever wondered why there is so much evil in the world, UPB is worth examining as a moral framework. Due to the author's atheistic world view, the theory stands independent from Judaic law while being compatible with it in most respects. This theory is an important achievement that hopefully wont be overlooked as the basis for a better world.

7 people found this helpful