The Relativistic Plane

The plane in VIRTU3-space that is exactly half-way between the VITRU3 and 3VIL corners is the relativistic plane. This plane is where most political and cultural battles are fought. On this plane, no position is is better or worse than any other from a fully virtuous perspective.

The Relativistic Plane in VIRTU3-space

The Relativistic Plane

From the perspective of the selectively blind or the absolutist, there are huge differences between different parts of the relativistic plane. One of these six ways of looking at the world becomes dominant as you approach each of the six edges of the hexagon-shaped relativistic plane.

It's easier to get people to rally around absolutism, so most political parties or social movements drift towards the red, blue or green edge.

• Moral absolutism tends to be associated with progressive movements
• Ethical absolutism tends to be associated with independence movements
• Consequential absolutism tends to be associated with conservative movements

Institutions tend towards one of the three blindnesses due to their fundamental incentive structures.

• Organized religious/ideological institutions grow out of particular combinations of ethical and moral beliefs. Consequential blindness comes from the tendency of these types of institutions to stick with official doctrines despite (or even because of) the destructive results of past applications of those ideas.
• The core purpose of governments is to punish immoral behaviors (intentional murder/theft/etc.) and protect or reward moral behaviors (with renown/subsidies/etc.). Governments can drift towards ethical blindness unless they are vigilantly policed by powers outside of their legislative/judicial purview.
• Markets exist as a successful set of ethical rules that allow for peaceful trade between relative strangers. Once it reaches a certain size a market becomes morally blind as participants have no way to know anything about the moral intentions of other participants.

Institutional VIRTU3

Most institutions grow out of a set rules for two of the three domains of VITRU3. Communities depend on a set of moral and ethical standards to avoid conflicts and resolve disputes peacefully. Markets function through a set of ethical and consequential conventions that foster mutually beneficial exchanges. Governments grow out of the attempt to codify a set of moral standards that will lead to long-term positive outcomes. Each of these institutions is subject to one of the three types of blindness.

The table below shows how differences in the priorities of institutions contribute to conflicts within and between societies. True VIRTU3 comes from each of these institutions compensating for the weaknesses in the others.

	COMMUNITY	GOVERNMENT	MARKETPLACE
DOMAIN	Moral & Ethical	Moral & Consequential	Ethical & Consequential
PLUS/MINUS	Right & Good/ Wrong & Bad	Positive & Good/ Negative & Bad	Right & Positive/ Wrong & Negative
CATEGORY	Theory & Beliefs	History & Beliefs	Theory & History
TIME	The Present & Future	The Past & Future	The Past & Present
SPACE	Local	National	Global
HIGHEST VALUE	Idealized Truth	Idealized Authority	Revealed Truth
MEASURE OF SUCCESS	Population Growth	National Autonomy	International Influence
BASIS	Self-Knowledge & Human Nature	Self-Knowledge & Observed Results	Human Nature & Observed Results
STYLES OF REASONING	Intuitive & Deductive	Intuitive & Inductive	Deductive & Inductive
FAILURE MODES	Self-Delusion/ Logical Fallacies	Self-Delusion/ Black Swans	Logical Fallacies/ Black Swans
SOURCE OF ERROR	Consequential Blindness	Ethical Blindness	Moral Blindness
MORAL PHILOSOPHY	Religion	Interventionism	Laissez-Faire
SCIENTIFIC PRIORITY	Social Correctness	Social Engineering	Engineering
JUDICIAL EMPHASIS	Mens Rea & Fault-Based Liability	Mens Rea & No-Fault Liability	Fault-Based Liability & No-Fault Liability
RELIGIOUS FOCUS	Divine Grace & Justice	Divine Grace & Favor	Divine Justice & Favor
ECONOMIC TOOLS	Economic Philosophy & Economic Praxeology	Economic Philosophy & Econometric Analysis	Economic Praxeology & Econometric Analysis
POLITICAL NARRATIVES	Aspirational Rationalism	Aspirational Pragmatism	Rational Pragmatism
AMERICAN POLITICS	Progressive Movement	Bipartisan Establishment	Conservative Movement
POLITICAL ECONOMICS	Cooperative Socialism	Regulatory Corporatism	Market Capitalism
POLITICAL HIERARCHY	Cooperative Meritocracy	Authoritarian Collectivism	Market Aristocracy
POLITICAL POWER-GROUP	Revolutionary Patriot-Insurgents	The Government (Civil & Military)	Reactionary Patriot-Insurgents
POLITICAL FAILURE MODE	Revolutionary Fragmentation	Military Totalitarianism	Reactionary Fragmentation

Personal VIRTU3

The three domains of VITRU3 show up in many other areas of human action. The table below shows how some important conflicts and differences of opinion map back to fundamental disagreements about the nature of virtue. The columns represent the three absolutist stances on each of the different topics. More complex, nuanced views would apply to the three blindnesses. A full understanding of VIRTU3 comes from synthesizing these views without compromising any of them.

	INTENTIONS	ACTIONS	RESULTS
DOMAIN	Moral	Ethical	Consequential
PLUS/MINUS	Good/Bad	Right/Wrong	Positive/Negative
CATEGORY	Belief	Theory	History
TIME	The Future	The Present	The Past
SPACE	Hearts and Minds	The World of Forms	The Real World
HIGHEST VALUE	Ideals	Truth	Experience
MEASURE OF SUCCESS	Popularity	Wisdom	Prosperity
BASIS	Self-Knowledge	Human Nature	Observed Results
STYLE OF REASONING	Intuitive	Deductive	Inductive
FAILURE MODE	Self-Delusion	Logical Fallacies	Black Swans
SOURCE OF ERROR	Belief ≠ Reality	Theory ≠ Reality	Data ≠ Reality
MORAL PHILOSOPHY	Intentionalism	Natural Law	Utilitarianism
SCIENTIFIC PRIORITY	Social Advancement	Procedural Correctness	Practical Utility
JUDICIAL EMPHASIS	Mens Rea	Fault-Based Liability	No-Fault Liability
RELIGIOUS FOCUS	Divine Grace	Divine Justice	Divine Favor
ECONOMIC TOOLS	Economic Philosophy	Economic Praxeology	Econometric Analysis
POLITICAL NARRATIVES	Aspirational	Rational	Pragmatic
AMERICAN POLITICS	Democratic Party	Liberty Movement	Republican Party
POLITICAL ECONOMICS	Socialism	Voluntaryism	Capitalism
POLITICAL HIERARCHY	Progressive Meritocracy	Associative Individualism	Traditional Aristocracy
POLITICAL POWER-GROUP	Scientific-Technical Elite	Guerilla Patriot-Terrorists	Military-Industrial Complex
POLITICAL FAILURE MODE	Totalitarian Communism	Feudal Anarchy	Totalitarian Fascism

The 10 Commandments of VIRTU3

1. Live virtuously at all times.
2. Act only with good intentions towards yourself and others.
3. Act only in accordance with the rights of yourself and others.
4. Act only in ways that will yield positive results for yourself and others.
5. Do not act with bad intentions towards yourself or others.
6. Do not wrong yourself or others by your actions.
7. Do not act in ways that will yield negative results for yourself or others.
8. Do not use good intentions to justify wrong actions or negative results.
9. Do not use right actions to justify bad intentions or negative results.
10. Do not use positive results to justify bad intentions or wrong actions.

The 3 Types of Blindness

Some people believe that one of the three domains of virtue is completely irrelevant. Because of this belief, they voluntarily blind themselves to the full view of VIRTU3-space.

Moral Blindness

Those who believe that morality is irrelevant are susceptible to moral blindness. For the morally blind, ethics and consequences are the only standards of virtue. An action can be judged as wholly good without any consideration of the moral intentions that led to the behavior. Immoral behavior is justified and wholly excused by correct ethics and positive outcomes. Moral blindness is associated with sayings like "fake it 'til you make it" and totally rejects personal morality as having any weight, even as a secondary or side constraint.

This figure shows how the morally blind orient VIRTU3-space. The yellow and white corners are considered equally virtuous. The blue and black corners are considered equally vicious. The other four corners are mixed, since they are either ethical or constructive, but not both.

Ethical Blindness

Those who believe that ethics are irrelevant are susceptible to ethical blindness. For the ethically blind, morals and consequences are the only standards of virtue. An action can be judged as wholly good without any consideration of the ethical nature of the behavior. Unethical behavior is justified and wholly excused by correct morals and positive outcomes. Ethical blindness is associated with sayings like "you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs" and totally rejects ethical rights as having any weight, even as a secondary or side constraint.

This figure shows how the ethically blind orient VIRTU3-space. The purple and white corners are considered equally virtuous. The green and black corners are considered equally vicious. The other four corners are mixed, since they are either moral or constructive, but not both.

Consequential Blindness

Those who believe that results are irrelevant are susceptible to consequential blindness. For the consequentially blind, morals and ethics are the only standards of virtue. An action can be judged as wholly good without any consideration of the real or predictable outcomes of a given behavior. Destructive behavior is justified and wholly excused by personal morality and correct ethics. Consequential blindness is associated with sayings like "do what's right, come what may" and totally rejects real-world results as having any weight, even as a secondary or side constraint.

This figure shows how the consequentially blind orient VIRTU3-space. The aqua and white corners are considered equally virtuous. The red and black corners are considered equally vicious. The other four corners are mixed, since they are either moral or ethical, but not both.

Centered VIRTU3

Doubt reigns in the center of VIRTU3-space. There are many circumstances where there just isn't enough information to make any judgments about a particular behavior. We might not know what someone intended, so it's hard/impossible to make a determination about their morality. We might not know who has what rights based on the full history of interactions, so ethical judgments might be conflicted or uncertain. It might be unclear what the full long-term results of any particular action are, so it can be unclear if the action is creative, destructive or somewhere in between.

The center is, in my opinion, where all of us are born. Each of us may, based on in-born temperament, be more attracted to some part of VIRTU3-space. Temperament aside, most of us are ready and able to learn and follow the particular morals, ethics and expectations of our societies. A free society is one where a wider variety of temperaments can find full expression. A restrictive society is one where little or no accommodation for personal temperament is made.

The Centered VIRTU3 Framework

Simple VIRTU3

Three independent axes in geometry form 3D-space. Similarly, the three independent domains create a VIRTU3-space. Unlike 3D-space, VIRTU3-space is finite. A self-aware, omniscient being has the capacity to be perfectly moral, ethical and creative. That same self-aware, omniscient being has an equal capacity to be perfectly immoral, unethical and destructive. These two points are opposite corners of the Simple VIRTU3 framework. All of the corners are listed in the table below. Any and every judgement about intentions, actions or results fits into this framework.

Morality	Ethics	Results	Coordinates	Color
Moral	Ethical	Creative	(1,1,1)	White
Moral	Ethical	Destructive	(1,1,-1)	Aqua
Moral	Unethical	Creative	(1,-1,1)	Purple
Immoral	Ethical	Creative	(-1,1,1)	Yellow
Moral	Unethical	Destructive	(1,-1,-1)	Blue
Immoral	Ethical	Destructive	(-1,1,-1)	Green
Immoral	Unethical	Creative	(-1,-1,1)	Red
Immoral	Unethical	Destructive	(-1,-1,-1)	Black

The Simple VIRTU3 Framework

The 3 Types of Absolutism

Some people believe that one of the three domains of virtue is the only one that matters.

Moral Absolutism

Those who believe that morality is all that matters are moral absolutists. For a moral absolutist, ethics and consequences are both irrelevant. An action can be judged as wholly good as long as the intentions that led to the behavior are good. Destructive or unethical behavior is justified and wholly excused by good intentions. Moral absolutists totally reject ethical egoism and consequential utilitarianism as having any weight, even as secondary or side constraints.

This figure shows how a moral absolutist orients VIRTU3-space. Any of the four corners on the top are considered good by a moral absolutist. All four corners on the bottom would be viewed as bad.

Moral Absolutism

Ethical Absolutism

Those who believe that ethics is all that matters are ethical absolutists. For an ethical absolutist, morals and consequences are both irrelevant. An action can be judged as wholly good as long as the behavior did not violate the ethical rights of anyone. Immoral or destructive behavior is justified and wholly excused by proper ethics. Ethical absolutists totally reject personal morality and consequential utilitarianism as having any weight, even as secondary or side constraints.

This figure shows how a ethical absolutist orients VIRTU3-space. Any of the four corners on the top are considered right by an ethical absolutist. All four corners on the bottom would be viewed as wrong.

Ethical Absolutism

Consequential Absolutism

Those who believe that results are all that matters are consequential absolutists. For a consequential absolutist, morals and ethics are both irrelevant. An action can be judged as wholly good as long as outcomes are productive. Immoral or unethical behavior is justified and wholly excused by good results. Consequential absolutists totally reject personal morality and ethical egoism as having any weight, even as secondary or side constraints.

This figure shows how a consequential absolutist orients VIRTU3-space. Any of the four corners on the top are considered constructive by a consequential absolutist. All four corners on the bottom would be viewed as destructive.

Consequential Absolutism

The 3 Domains of VIRTU3

Human behaviors may be judged from three separate and equally valid domains. These domains are categorically distinct and each must be considered to get a full picture of the virtue/vice of a given behavior.

The Moral Domain

Moral behaviors are motivated by good intentions. The most basic example of moral intentions is wanting yourself and others to find lasting happiness.

Immoral behaviors are motivated by bad intentions. The most basic example of immoral intentions is wanting yourself or others to find existential despair.

Moral judgments precede behavior. They are applicable only to what's going on in the mind of a specific individual. Moral judgments focus on the intentions that lead to human behaviors. They are future-oriented, idealistic judgments.

The Ethical Domain

Ethical behaviors conform to the code of conduct appropriate to mindful selves. The most basic example of ethical action is the act of argumentation. Each participant respects, at a bare minimum, the right of all other participants to agree to disagree.

Unethical behaviors violate the code of conduct appropriate to mindful selves. The most basic example of immoral action is enslavement. One person is willing to use force up to and including summary execution to induce another person to obey.

Ethical judgments are made of behavior as it occurs. They are applicable only to specific actions of specific individuals. Ethical judgments focus on the procedural norms for human behavior. They are present-oriented, rational judgments.

The Consequential Domain

Creative behaviors yield positive results. The most basic example of creative outcomes is expanding the supply of basic necessities (food/water/shelter) for yourself and others.

Destructive behaviors yield negative results. The most basic example of destructive outcomes is wastefully reducing the supply of basic necessities (food/water/shelter) for yourself or others.

Consequential judgments are made of outcomes after the fact. They are applicable to the results of the actions of one or more individuals. Consequential judgments focus on the observed results of human behavior. They are past-oriented, utilitarian judgments.

The 3 Questions

How do you know if some behavior is virtuous? Just ask these three questions:

1. Is it done with good intentions?
2. Is it done with respect for the rights of everyone involved?
3. Is it is it likely to yield positive results?

If you can answer yes to all three, then it's virtuous.