Pan-Deontics - Those who see morality everywhere

Actually written AUGUST 30, 2011

I’ve coined a new word to describe some people: pan-deontic.

A pan-deontic person is incapable of distinguishing desire from moral obligation, such that they will interpret all expressions of socially relevant desire as expressions of moral obligation. To the pan-deontic, there is no such thing as acting from desire, only acting from obligation. If I say I help the poor because I simply desire to do so, the pan-deontic is convinced that I help the poor from a sense of moral obligation. Somehow, to the pan-deontic, socially relevant desire does not even exist and only obligation exists.

The pan-deontic refuses to acknowledge the existence of the non-moralist. To the pan-deontic, everyone is acting from a sense of moral obligation, all the time, and anyone who claims to be a non-moralist is just a confused moralist who won't admit they’re making “should” judgments all the time.

The pan-deontic literally has a mental block preventing them from processing certain sentences correctly. Again, if I say I help the poor only because I desire to and not from any sense of obligation, the pan-deontic will actually hear (or read) a sentence expressing the exact opposite, as if I had said “I help the poor only from a sense of moral obligation, and not simply because I desire to.”. A strange, inexplicable psychological malfunction occurs, performing a feat of amazing semantic acrobatics.

I have encountered at least one pan-deontic in my life.

[Actually, I think I’ve defined the pan-deontic inadequately here. But it’s a good start.]

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