Modalism 

A Trinitarian heresy that says God isn't three distinct Persons, but instead is God in three different forms. This heresy isn't biblical because we see the Persons of the Trinity interact with one another (Matthew 3:13-17).

Patrick: The Trinity is like water, and how you can find water in three different forms, liquid, and ice, and vapor.
Donall: That's modalism, Patrick!

Modalism by CubeOfWater March 4, 2024

Scientific Moralism

The practice of using the authority and language of science to make moral judgments—to declare what is right and wrong, good and bad, virtuous and sinful—as if empirical findings could settle ethical questions. Scientific moralism mistakes "is" for "ought," treating descriptive claims about how the world works as prescriptive claims about how it should work. It's the evolutionary psychologist who declares that traditional gender roles are "natural" and therefore good; the neuroscientist who claims that because certain brain states correlate with happiness, we now know how to live; the public health researcher who treats statistical correlations as moral imperatives. Scientific moralism borrows science's prestige to launder moral claims, presenting value judgments as if they were empirical findings.

Example: "He cited studies about 'natural human behavior' to justify his prejudice—Scientific Moralism, using the authority of science to dress up moral judgments as if they were facts."

Scientific Moralism by Dumu The Void March 14, 2026

Logical Moralism

The practice of using formal logic and logical reasoning as a basis for moral judgment—condemning positions as "illogical" as if logical consistency were the highest ethical value, or deriving moral conclusions from logical premises as if ought could be deduced from is. Logical moralism treats moral disagreements as failures of reasoning, assuming that if everyone just thought clearly enough, they'd arrive at the same ethical conclusions. It's the philosopher who thinks teaching logic will eliminate prejudice; the debater who treats every moral question as soluble through syllogism; the rationalist who believes irrationality is the source of all evil. Logical moralism mistakes one tool of thought for the whole of moral wisdom.

Example: "He couldn't engage with her moral concerns—he just kept pointing out where her arguments were 'illogical,' as if logical consistency was the only thing that mattered. Pure Logical Moralism, mistaking reasoning for righteousness."

Logical Moralism by Dumu The Void March 14, 2026

Ivory Moralism

A form of moral judgment that emerges from within ivory tower environments, characterized by the application of abstract ethical principles developed in academic isolation to complex real-world situations, often with little understanding of context, constraint, or consequence. Ivory moralism judges from a position of safety and distance, holding others to standards that the moralist themselves never has to meet, condemning compromises that the moralist never has to make, demanding purity that only privilege can afford. It's the ethics of the editorial, not the ethics of the trenches—principled, consistent, and almost always useless to those actually facing hard choices. Ivory moralism feels righteous to those who practice it but looks like privilege performing virtue to those on the receiving end.

Example: "From her tenured position, she condemned the activists for not being pure enough—pure Ivory Moralism, judging those in the arena from a seat so far up the tower she couldn't even see the fight."

Ivory Moralism by Dumu The Void March 14, 2026

Scientistic Moralism

An intensified form of scientific moralism that emerges from a scientistic worldview—the belief that science is the only legitimate path to knowledge and the ultimate arbiter of all questions, including moral ones. Scientistic moralism doesn't just use science to support moral claims; it insists that science replaces traditional ethics, that moral questions are ultimately empirical questions, that the good life can be scientifically determined and prescribed. It's the bioethicist who thinks fMRI scans can resolve debates about justice; the behavioral economist who believes utility optimization is the only rational basis for morality; the transhumanist who treats technological progress as self-evidently good. Scientistic moralism is what happens when the tools of science are mistaken for the whole of wisdom.

Example: "He genuinely believed that once neuroscience advanced far enough, it would answer all moral questions—pure Scientistic Moralism, mistaking empirical description for ethical prescription."

Scientistic Moralism by Dumu The Void March 14, 2026

Epistemological Moralism

The practice of using epistemological standards—claims about what counts as knowledge, evidence, or justification—as tools of moral judgment and exclusion. Epistemological moralism condemns not just what people believe but how they claim to know it, treating different ways of knowing as moral failings rather than cultural differences. It's the anthropologist who dismisses indigenous knowledge as "unscientific" and therefore illegitimate; the philosopher who treats anyone who can't articulate their epistemology as intellectually bankrupt; the scientist who treats non-quantitative evidence as morally suspect. Epistemological moralism turns questions of method into questions of character, making epistemology a weapon rather than a tool.

Example: "He didn't just disagree with her knowledge claims—he treated her way of knowing as a moral failing, a sign of insufficient rigor. Epistemological Moralism: using standards of evidence as standards of virtue."

Epistemological Moralism by Dumu The Void March 14, 2026

Atheistic Moralism

A form of moralism where atheism—the absence of belief in gods—becomes the basis for moral judgment and exclusion. The atheistic moralist treats religious belief not as a difference of opinion but as a moral failing, a sign of insufficient rationality, a character flaw deserving contempt. Religious believers are not just wrong but backward, not just mistaken but dangerous, not just different but deficient. Atheism ceases to be a position on a single question and becomes a comprehensive worldview, a standard of virtue, a marker of the enlightened elect. The moralism transforms atheism from a conclusion about gods into a crusade against the god-believing, losing sight of the actual questions in favor of the satisfaction of feeling superior to the benighted masses.

Example: "He couldn't just disagree with religious claims—he had to treat believers as morally inferior, as if lacking belief automatically made him a better person. Atheistic Moralism: mistaking your conclusion for your virtue."

Atheistic Moralism by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 14, 2026