So these are my four suggestions for preempting and letting go of moralization: meditating, disidentifying with the anger, giving up your "rackets," and viewing the aggressor as a hurt wolf. Earlier in my talk, I explained why it is justified, both psychologically and philosophically, to stop moralizing. I explained what's available to you personally by replacing moralization with compassion and acceptance. Moreover, I explained how you can more effectively effect change in other people and the world by taking this approach. Before that, I explained how-from the perspectives of neurobiology, evolutionary psychology, and psychoanalysis-moralization is a generally maladaptive defense mechanism. And at the start of my talk, I explained how moralism is not only different from objective morality, but also how moralism is incompatible with objective morality.

I hope to have accomplished two main objectives with this talk. First, I hope that you will find your own experience of relating to immorality in yourself and others more pleasant, less painful, and more effective. Second, I hope that you can improve the tainted image of Objectivism so that this immensely valuable philosophy will become more palatable to the general public and so that objective morality can be used not to demoralize ourselves and others but to create and sustain value in our world. Thank you.

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For further information related to this talk, from the Web Links page, you can access the Moralism in Objectivism section. For quick access, click here.

In addition, as an Appendix to his talk, "Moralism in Objectivism," Damian Moskovitz is offering his academic paper, "The Biological Basis of Altruism." Several individuals who have studied "Moralism in Objectivism" have asked Damian questions about the biological basis of empathy. Some such people may find that this paper offers additional insight into Damian's views on this subject. For quick access, click here.