RE: My views on objective morality
March 2, 2016 at 11:55 am
(This post was last modified: March 2, 2016 at 11:56 am by God of Mr. Hanky.)
(March 1, 2016 at 10:40 pm)bennyboy Wrote:(March 1, 2016 at 8:49 pm)LadyForCamus Wrote: Hmm...okay, I see your point. So, we could consider each individual's genetically expressed tendencies as objective for that specific person?
I'm not sure I'd call individual differences morality. So while we each have our individual mores, I'd say that morality is more about cultural or species norms.
Good point, LFC!
Benny, what do you think is the underlying basis for a cultural norm, other than the genes of its individuals and the geographic factors which influence them all?
"Species norm"? Again, it's just the consensus of individuals, because natural selection works by changing the characteristics of individuals from generation to generation. When new individuals have the characteristics of rabbits, and generally mate only with similar individuals, then you have a new species. Speciation is driven by the genes of individuals, not by any kind of species standard.
Quote:There are certain behaviors that are clearly mediated by instinct and for the most part are uniform across culture and time. A mother not taking care of her baby, for example, would be seen as immoral in probably every culture-- or it would be a short-lived culture, indeed. Even though some mothers in fact do not take care of babies, or some cultures have cases in which particular babies are discarded cruelly, I'd say that child-rearing rules might be said to represent an objective morality.
In any slow-reproducing species, there will be instincts developed in mothers to care for their young - no need for rules on this, despite the fact that they exist in societies which are motivated to protect children. It's called a survival necessity, not a "morality", nor is it objective (some mothers care more about how they'll score their next heroin shot). Species which can dump massive quantities of eggs on the bottom of a stream (such as fish) ensure a high likelihood that a few will survive to hatch, and that some will become mature individuals, therefore they can and do abandon the eggs and go on taking care of #1.
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