Structural Moral Fictionalism: An Adaptive Statement

Structural Moral Fictionalism is the philosophical view that moral discourse—claims of “right” and “wrong,” “good” and “evil”—does not describe objective or metaphysical truths. Morality is not derived from divine command, natural law, or independent rational deduction. Instead, moral language functions as a necessary fictional signal, propagated and amplified by social institutions to coordinate behaviour and promote long-term systemic viability.

Morality is understood fundamentally as an entropy reduction mechanism; its purpose is not to enforce static rules, but to ensure the collective system remains flexible enough to adapt and survive internal and external threats over generational time spans.

The Fictional Mechanism: The User Interface of Survival

Moral language operates as a collective, institutionally reinforced fiction. It is the most efficient User Interface for managing complex social cooperation, much like an icon on a desktop interface. Individuals need not believe moral claims to be metaphysically true; practical engagement alone suffices to maintain coordination. The systemic structure of morality exists to create shared expectations that make social life predictable.

Revised Definitions: Good and Evil

Within this functional framework, the concepts of “good” and “evil” are redefined based on their effect on the system’s adaptive capacity:

• Good (Systemic Viability): Refers to behaviours, norms, or actions that reduce systemic entropy (unpredictability, instability, or disorder within the collective) and increase the long-term adaptive capacity of the collective. This includes necessary error-correction (reform) that removes structural flaws that would otherwise guarantee eventual collapse.
• Evil (Systemic Fragility): Refers to behaviours, norms, or actions that introduce structural brittleness (an inability to withstand pressure or change) and unmanageable entropy, increasing the probability of catastrophic systemic failure.

The Structural System: Nested Field Dynamics

Morality is a locally emergent, field-like phenomenon generated by the perpetual negotiation between two organically emerging forces.

For the purpose of this framework, "Structural" refers not only to formal top-down institutions (governments, religions, culture) but also to the organized system of relations within the collective, encompassing both top-down reinforcement and the bottom-up adaptive pressures that shape it. This structure is subject to two perpetual, and often competing, logics:

1. Top-Down Institutional Logic: The efforts of large institutions (governments, religions, culture) to propagate predictable, simple signals for order.
2. Bottom-Up Adaptive Logic: The pressure exerted by the biological and psychological needs of individuals for fairness, reciprocity, and autonomy.

Crucially, since morality is defined relative to a local collective field, an action deemed "Good" for enhancing the viability of one collective system may simultaneously be destabilizing and thus "Evil" relative to another.

Conclusion

Structural Moral Fictionalism thus combines elements of anti-realism, functionalism, and fictionalism. Moral discourse is a pragmatic tool: a locally generated, institutionally reinforced fiction that ensures the long-term adaptive viability of the collective.