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In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order
#56
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order
(August 23, 2019 at 9:56 pm)John 6IX Breezy Wrote:
(August 22, 2019 at 3:30 pm)Gae Bolga Wrote: Meh, not really.  Our moral umbrellas will probably get most of us killed.  We have them because another organ evolved to find dinner.

I was thinking about your statement again. I'm wondering how it accounts for people having reasoning capacities that seem specific to norms?

There’s nothing specific about our capacity for reason.

As far as it being secondhand, there are two reasons for this. First, morality does not, strictly speaking, confer survival benefits. It often has a cost, instead. On top of that, full anatomical modernity preceded behavioral modernity by at least 100k years.

We were living as anatomically modern human beings for many, many generations before we started behaving in a recognizably human way. We were still working out the terms and staking properly basic positions as an area of then-current research as late as classical empire.

We don’t know what social mores early Homo sapiens had, if any, but we expect them to be very similar to other species with similar needs and living arrangements.

The referenced piece doesn’t have anything to say in support of moral reasoning being or having been a primary function, selected for in the development of the organ that achieves it. Its highly unlikely to have been the case, and all evidence points to the contrary.

That said, it does highlight something about modern populations, that you might see expressed in dissatisfaction with moral schemas here on the boards. We either naturally, or have been conditioned, to prefer simple deontology. Reasoning from a set rule, like the corner piece of a puzzle. Tell a person that moral realism doesn’t (and can’t) provide a simple itemized list of does and dont’s, and they throw their arms up. “What good is it, then?”.

It’s kind of fun to keep that in mind when we discuss our moral agency. It’s a patch. It uses systems designed for other things and prefers strait forward problem solving to the sort of introspection required for deep dives. When some nutbar shouts out to his god before pressing the doomsday button, he’s going to feel a deep sense of moral satisfaction in having discharged his sacred duty to do the right thing.

So, it may seem strange, to us, but what doesn’t seem strange about morality?
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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Messages In This Thread
In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 22, 2019 at 10:01 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 22, 2019 at 10:15 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 22, 2019 at 10:54 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by LastPoet - August 22, 2019 at 2:31 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by DLJ - August 22, 2019 at 11:23 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 22, 2019 at 12:10 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by DLJ - August 22, 2019 at 12:44 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 22, 2019 at 5:54 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by DLJ - August 22, 2019 at 7:42 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 22, 2019 at 9:17 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by DLJ - August 22, 2019 at 9:24 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by DLJ - August 22, 2019 at 9:14 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by DLJ - August 23, 2019 at 12:56 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by no one - August 22, 2019 at 11:38 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by brewer - August 22, 2019 at 11:42 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by no one - August 22, 2019 at 12:21 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 22, 2019 at 3:58 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 22, 2019 at 5:46 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 22, 2019 at 9:10 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by LastPoet - August 22, 2019 at 1:04 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by The Grand Nudger - August 25, 2019 at 5:51 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Grandizer - August 25, 2019 at 10:16 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Amarok - August 22, 2019 at 4:16 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by chimp3 - August 22, 2019 at 9:33 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by DLJ - August 23, 2019 at 9:57 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 23, 2019 at 2:26 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 23, 2019 at 3:07 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 23, 2019 at 3:32 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by no one - August 25, 2019 at 11:53 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 25, 2019 at 12:19 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Belacqua - August 27, 2019 at 4:15 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 27, 2019 at 8:52 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 28, 2019 at 8:44 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 28, 2019 at 10:37 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Objectivist - August 28, 2019 at 10:47 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by DLJ - August 27, 2019 at 3:14 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 28, 2019 at 6:51 am
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by Acrobat - August 29, 2019 at 1:13 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by DLJ - August 30, 2019 at 2:58 pm
RE: In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order - by LastPoet - August 30, 2019 at 3:02 pm

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