Application:
SMH can be used to decode populist rhetoric, design multi-perspective policy deliberation, and train political leaders to navigate layered moral terrains rather than enforce monolithic moralities.
7.2 Digital Morality and Algorithmic Ethics
The rise of digital technologies, AI, and surveillance capitalism has created a moral vacuum---not due to lack of rules, but due to competing moral layers embedded in code, platforms, and data structures.
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Tech companies often rely on Layer 4 morality (systems logic, efficiency, profit maximization), minimizing concerns from Layer 1 (user well-being, emotional harm).
Algorithmic moderation of content frequently invokes Layer 2 (community standards) or Layer 3 (state law), yet may ignore Layer 5 issues like digital soul erosion or existential alienation.
Furthermore, AI decision-making raises urgent questions of moral accountability when agents are no longer strictly human, blurring moral responsibility across layers.
Application:
SMH can help develop multi-layered ethical audits for algorithms, balancing structural imperatives with human-centric and transcendent concerns. It also offers a lens to critique digital platforms' implicit moral hierarchies.
7.3 Environmental Ethics and Intergenerational Justice
Environmental crises present an intergenerational moral challenge that spans all five layers. For instance:
