Surface Existemetrics is concerned with universals – the terms of properties and relations – inherent in the Normal Ecology Set and the Normal Species Set, and subsequent to that, virtue ethics as implicated in the interrogatory “How should we live?” The answer to this fundamental question of Greek ethics - those of Aristotle, Socrates and Plato - being “virtuously, of course”.
The Normal Ecology Set and the Normal Species Set involve set-theoretical constructions to demonstrate genuine underlying universals; those phenomena that are literally identical in every instance. To this issue of universals, philosophy remains very much divided between Realists, those who believe in universals, and Nominalists, those that do not. Many Realists argue that universals do exist but only when instantiated in individuals. Such a belief bears validity and reliability when confronted with counter-arguments of ‘one over many’, the manifest fact of recurrence, as well as capacity to withstand the Third Man Argument posited by Aristotle. Two of the generally accepted conclusions about universals is that they should be of finite regressiveness, and also that ‘Ockham’s Razor’ should prevail, that is, in all instances one should rely on as few universals as possible. Accordingly, the Normal Ecology Set and Normal Species Set cohere in terms of fundamental basic universals: the Intuition Set and the Population Set, being representative of perpetual tendencies of bio-organics. Therefore, Surface Existemetrics may be considered conditional to a required degree of accepted veracity (truth without controversy) of underlying universals, their properties and relations: the Intuition Set and the Population Set.
Given the preponderance of universals, any approach to the nature of life and how it is being and ought to be lived is peremptorily confounded by the Virtue Ethics – the injunction of coextensive and coherent moral conduct. Compared to ‘right’ and ‘goodness’ which are deemed ‘thin’, virtue is believed to be thickly laden in property. According to the Normal Ecology Set and Normal Species Set, these properties are essentially biological, establishing an intrinsic claim to life and existence (Existentiality), sufficiently that they then prescribe natural laws propagandising the continuance of life, as that which is descriptive of virtue.
Furthermore, according to Aristotle, by nature there is a preponderance of rationality of virtues within each being, which he called ‘eudaimonia’, and which intrinsically promotes ‘virtuous life’. Hence, within in each being, while morality cannot completely override self-interest, the ‘moral code’ ought to be profligate and fundamental to ordinary conditions of existence.
Morality may thus seem contentious and contradictory, notwithstanding, philosophy abounds with a complete array of moral virtue constructionists through to moral virtue deconstructionists. Ethicists such as Lawrence Blum have proposed virtue-centered idealistic models validating the rights of individuals to act according to levels of partiality and emotional concern for others, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Alasdair McIntyre and Nietzsche emphasise a conflict model in which coexistential and differing traditions disseminate dissension and disunity. In these instances, apparent rigidity of moral codes, rules and regulations may to some extent be placated via the application of practical wisdom and pragmatics to the situational context.
Overall, according to other recent analytic philosophy such as by Ludwig Wittgenstein, conceptual knowledge ought to be valued above rules-based knowledge. That is, appropriate morality is predominantly a function of fluid understanding compared to explicit knowledge. This has implications for the conduct and applications of Surface Existemetrics. To the extent that the internal knowledge (propaedia) is largely deterministic of programmed behaviour and contextualised outcomes, the moral code is naturally transcendental of the local and larger spatio-temporal scales. Each individual is both subject and protagonist of Surface Existentiality, and ultimately, a human agent on the level playing field of life. Hence, the cultural dialogue, and the learning institutions of larger society incur custodianship and responsibility for maintaining appropriately progressive fluid versus rules-based systems for the transmission of knowledge.