Morals

[robvalue]

People generally have morals. We evolved that way. Asking "why" is rather misguided. A better question is "how did it come about", which is answered pretty simply by the fact that we prospered as a cooperative species.

Religion of course replaces this explanation with "magic", instead of accepting straightforward scientific models.

Well I am not really concerned with religious explanations here.

But my thoughts are tending in the same direction.  There is no reason external to ourselves as we have come to exist that morals would exist: a universe void of any life or any social constructs for that matter would be entirely without morals, and the "ought" can only come into play if there is already value placed on life and the flourishing thereof on physical, psychological, and social dimensions.  If for whatever reason that isn't valued, then it simply isn't.

But is this reasoning the same as moral nihilism?

No reason external to ourselves? Sure there is. Our environment. It shaped our evolution. Our natural selection favoured those who cared about other group members, not just themselves. These are facts. I'm not sure what more you are looking for. Morals aren't some entity floating around on their own, they are simply a code of behaviour for individuals or society. And they are shaped by the environment, ultimately. There's nothing magical about them, nor do they need powering or creating by something.

Yes, if a particular person doesn't value something, then they don't value it. If society doesn't value something, then they don't value it. All value is subjective. But the reality is that people do value each other, on the whole. Again, there are scientific explanations. It's not a matter of reasoning them into or out of existence.

Moral nihilism, like any particular ethical code, is a system that can be used to model the behaviour of an individual. Ultimately, it's descriptive. People don't program their own morality from scratch. Of course, peoples' morality changes over their lifetime, so they may be drawn towards one system or another; or more likely a mix of many.