Is the majority always right ? (Venue: Caffè Nero)

(Scroll down for topic intro)

THE VENUE: Caffè Nero

It's not quite spring yet so we will continue to meet indoors for the next few weeks.

When we meet indoors, we run the same event in two locations: Caffè Nero and Starbucks, so as to provide capacity for as many people who would like to attend, without overwhelming any one venue. Thus, there will be two events published, and you can choose which one to attend. Please don't sign up for both. This event is for the Nero location.

We meet upstairs at Caffè Nero. An organiser will be present from 10.45. We are not charged for use of the space so it would be good if everyone bought at least one drink.

An attendee limit has been set so as not to overwhelm the venue.

Etiquette
Our discussions are friendly and open. We are a discussion group, not a for-and-against debating society. But it helps if we try to stay on topic. And we should not talk over others, interrupt them, or try to dominate the conversation.

There is often a waiting list for places, so please cancel your attendance as soon as possible if you subsequently find you can't come.

WhatsApp groups
We have two WhatsApp groups. One is to notify events, including extra events such as meeting for a meal or a drink during the week which we don't normally put on the Meetup site. The other is for open discussion of whatever topics occur to people. If you would like to join either or both groups, please send a note of the phone number you would like to use to Richard Baron on: website.audible238@passmail.net. (This is an alias that can be discarded if it attracts spam, hence the odd words.)

THE TOPIC: Is the majority always right?

Thank you to Miguel for preparing this week's topic.

In democratic societies, every member is given an equal vote to select political leaders or to express their opinion directly through referendums. More broadly, if we could continuously measure public opinion (through a succession of polls, for example), we could determine what the majority wants and act accordingly.

But does that mean the majority is right? Is the current will of the people, by definition, the correct choice?

Consider this: if 99% of the population voted in favour of legalising slavery, should it be legalised? Is it the right thing to do simply because it reflects the will of the people? And if slavery is universally wrong regardless of popular opinion, how should a society manage the tension between what is morally right and what people want?

This dilemma cuts both ways. Going against the will of the people can be seen as anti-democratic. Yet if morality is not rooted in the moral compass of the majority, how do we determine what is truly right? Or how do we determine that 'truly right' does not exist?

Sometimes, changes in morality have their inception in a minority of individuals (like philosphers) that start spreading the vision of what future morality looks like. Eventually, this becomes the norm once the majority catches up.

Does this mean that the majority previously wrong and perhaps should not be trusted? And does it make sense to wait for the majority to catch up?

This topic was not democratically chosen — but it will, hopefully, prove to have been the right choice.