RE: The difference between ethical atheism and nihlism is that ethical atheists have more faith
March 4, 2013 at 1:23 am
Morality/ethics is a subset of human values. Where can atheists get their values from? Like all the other animals, our values come from our feelings/desires/emotions. Emotion is what evolution programmed us with to tell us what is good and bad in our environment.
So, talk of moral nihilism is a waste of time. We know where atheists get our values from. The only interesting question is how this insight will effect our moral culture. Our morality (currently based largely on tradition) will increasingly be judged anew according to how well such a culture promotes human happiness.
So let's get on with promoting such a moral culture and stop wasting time with unnecessary drama about moral nihilism. Nihil means 'nothing'. To say that we know nothing about human values is obviously false. Psychology and neuroscience are increasingly studying the conditions for human happiness, and we all already know what our hearts desire. Ergo, moral nihilism is nonsense. It's for drama queens.
So, talk of moral nihilism is a waste of time. We know where atheists get our values from. The only interesting question is how this insight will effect our moral culture. Our morality (currently based largely on tradition) will increasingly be judged anew according to how well such a culture promotes human happiness.
So let's get on with promoting such a moral culture and stop wasting time with unnecessary drama about moral nihilism. Nihil means 'nothing'. To say that we know nothing about human values is obviously false. Psychology and neuroscience are increasingly studying the conditions for human happiness, and we all already know what our hearts desire. Ergo, moral nihilism is nonsense. It's for drama queens.
