RE: Morality evolved.
February 25, 2012 at 3:47 am
(This post was last modified: February 25, 2012 at 3:48 am by The Grand Nudger.)
The difficulty is in determining the specifics. Whilst we can imagine any generality to be possible (such as any of your examples), that's not exactly equivalent to explaining something. Even in your example of simple divisions of labor one could ask why this behavior emerged? What purpose did it serve for that creature, how was this purposes achieved and how was "critical social mass" if you will- the point at which morality shows benefits, achieved?
We could also take the stance that the various "moralities" of any given animal are the product only of what remains (IE-the really violent/immoral shit kept ending up dead whilst the nice/moral things survived). Still just conjecture unless we can pin down specifics. There is also a growing trend to explain things by way of causes, and not cause. Maybe there are a lot of variables in the morality question? That's why it's a difficult question. Morality doesn't leave fossils.
We could also take the stance that the various "moralities" of any given animal are the product only of what remains (IE-the really violent/immoral shit kept ending up dead whilst the nice/moral things survived). Still just conjecture unless we can pin down specifics. There is also a growing trend to explain things by way of causes, and not cause. Maybe there are a lot of variables in the morality question? That's why it's a difficult question. Morality doesn't leave fossils.
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