(August 6, 2012 at 9:17 am)genkaus Wrote:(August 6, 2012 at 5:49 am)mralstoner Wrote: I classify feelings as foundational values because they are the end goals which motivate behaviour: all other behaviour is instrumental towards achieving those emotional goals.
If you go to the very foundations, you'll find that the goals our behavior is motivated towards are biological, not emotional, in nature. Hunger, physical comfort, safety - these are the goals we seek to fulfill at the most basic. The emotional goals come afterwards and thus cannot be considered foundational.
You are jumping from an assertion regarding what motivates an individual's behavior (i.e., their feelings) to an analysis of what that behavior serves (its biological needs). Therefore your remark has no bearing on mralstoner's assertion.
It would be surprising indeed if our feelings/emotions did not evolve to serve our biological needs. But there is a stark difference between acting in response to feelings and acting out of consideration of what is good for one.
