(November 21, 2017 at 4:59 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote:
(November 21, 2017 at 3:34 pm)mh.brewer Wrote: Also my view, the development of ethics may be very simple and rooted in biology. The ethics of survival, of self, then family, then herd, then society.
I agree with you that natural selection is the most likely culprit in the formation of our moral sense.
Assuming that the development of ethics is rooted in biology, I'm interested in your opinion of how we should proceed with developing our ethical thinking. Should we, in the development of our ethics, continue to prioritize survival/self/family/herd/society, or should we (now that we are civilized and rational) proceed with an ethical development based on principles?
Are not civilization, rational thought and principles the evolved product of survival? We have evolved to the point where ethics should be based on principles. But I don't think that any principles will probably ever win out over survival.
If faced with regional/global catastrophe won't our ethics change in our quest for survival? I'm quite sure we'd devolve.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.