Jim, I think that in your initial post here you were going after something more akin to (not equipment-specific) "benefits of lite" rather than a more generic "philosophy", i.e.:

"Lighter is safer.
You're less apt to be injured with a light pack.
You can go further with a lite pack."

For me the benefits include that going lite can be safer. Less stuff also means it's easier to find and keep track of the things that you do have (!).

Being a little closer to the edge of comfort and safety perhaps also makes a person a little more in tune with their environment, i.e., rather than trying to brute-force solve all safety and comfort issues, the lite hiker is a bit more inclined to pay attention and finesse his or her way to comfort and/or safety.

Along the line of your comment about going farther with a lite pack, I'd say that a person can do more miles with the same effort level, or do the same miles but enjoy them more.

If we talk only in terms of comfort and safety, I guess I'd say that rather than a "compromise" to comfort and safety, a (significantly) lighter pack sort of shifts our inevitable comfort and safety trade-offs to a different center. Comfort shifts from camp-focused to trail-focused --- I'm more comfortable walking with less weight on my back. Safety shifts from "being safe through having gear to cover every contingency" to a combination of "safer through experience, knowledge, common sense, and enough gear" plus "safer because the pack is less likely to overbalance you or slam you into the ground so hard if you do fall".