Learning To Separate Morality from Efficacy

I have a great passion for studying political and economic theory. In any human endeavor I find constructive debate to be central to refining our ideas and policies. Though in common deliberation around political or economic issues I find that people commit a tactical error that detracts from successful communication — they intertwine debate about a policy’s morality with its efficacy.

Definitions

First, let’s define our terms:

• Morality: the ethical rightness or wrongness of a policy.
• Efficacy: the effectiveness of a policy in achieving its aims.

These are wholly different considerations that need to be dealt with independently. Any particular policy may have different answers for each of these questions.

An Example

Take the example of a heart transplant. In our society, when someone dies that has registered as an organ donor, their heart can be preserved and given to someone that is in need of a heart transplant. I would assess this as both moral (M+), and effective(E+). It is moral because the donor and the recipient have freely chosen to engage in this procedure. It is effective because there is very high success rate for this type of operation. Thus, we would rate this policy (M+E+).

Things Get Crazy

Now let’s extend the situation. Imagine there are multiple people waiting for organ transplants. Jen needs a heart, Tom needs a liver, and Mo needs a lung. Unfortunately no organs are presently available and time is running out for these patients. Dr. Crazy goes out and finds a random person that no one likes. He decides to end this persons life to harvest the necessary organs that will save the lives of Jen, Tom, and Mo. This is a brutal example, but still, let’s assess it on the same two criteria. This procedure is still effective(E+) but it is now immoral(M-). There may be some that would say it’s okay to kill one life to save three, but I think it’s safe to say that in our modern society 99 out of 100 would say that the above procedure was not morally justifiable. Though, and I believe this is the important point, the efficacy of this procedure can still be independently assessed. And this procedure was effective. Three lives have effectively been saved. This was not a moral act, but it is an effective one (M-E+).

The Application

I recently published an article titled Leftism Fails At Basic Economic Incentives. I was pleased at the engaged discussion that took place in response to the article on Reddit. I did find that the debates often floated between moral considerations and effectual assessments. My goal with this article is to empower people to be able to communication with one another better. I have certain political beliefs, but I also believe that life is complex and we as a society work out these issues together, in communication. If we have tools to be able to constructively debate and communicate with one another we have a much better chance of achieving successful outcomes.

The Send Out

The above is an excerpt from my upcoming book The Great Unlocking: A path to economic, political, and spiritual enlightenment. Sign up below to be notified when early content for the book is released