Scott Alexander examines his doubts about utilitarianism and explores moral contractualism as a potential alternative for grounding morality. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores his doubts about utilitarianism in this post. He discusses three main issues: the complexity of utilitarianism's superstructure, the problem of whose preferences to consider, and the lack of objectivity in consequentialism. He argues that utilitarianism often aligns with his moral intuitions, but when it doesn't, he tends to follow his intuitions instead. This leads him to consider a form of moral contractualism as an alternative. He proposes a system where people imagine and follow a hypothetical perfect contract that balances different moral views. This approach allows for some level of moral communion between groups with similar values, while acknowledging fundamental differences with others. Scott concludes that while this system doesn't solve all problems, it might be a step forward in grounding morality. Shorter summary