Many years ago in college I took a philosophy class. During that class, I began thinking about morals an ethics and came to an interesting conclusion:
Animals are capable of true morality while humans are not.
Let me explain:
Animals, as a general rule, act on instinct. They do what they need to do to survive. They are unable to QUESTION the morality of a given action and simply act out of instinctual motivation.
Humans, on the other hand, are able to QUESTION a given action. We can analyze the results and consequences of the things we do and even engage in mental gymnastics to justify our behaviors. Quite often, we do so while ignoring or minimizing the impact of our actions. There is little doubt that Hitler thought he was doing the right thing by exterminating the Jews in spite of the obvious horrendousness of his acts.
In short, it is the human ability to question morality that prevents us from being truly moral.
That being said, it is quite apparent to any animal owner that out companions are quite aware when they have done something wrong or unacceptable. The question then is, does this animal know their actions were "wrong" in the same sense that we view them as wrong or is it a situation where, like you point out, it is only "wrong" situationally or because they got caught.
Very interesting topic.
Animals are capable of true morality while humans are not.
Let me explain:
Animals, as a general rule, act on instinct. They do what they need to do to survive. They are unable to QUESTION the morality of a given action and simply act out of instinctual motivation.
Humans, on the other hand, are able to QUESTION a given action. We can analyze the results and consequences of the things we do and even engage in mental gymnastics to justify our behaviors. Quite often, we do so while ignoring or minimizing the impact of our actions. There is little doubt that Hitler thought he was doing the right thing by exterminating the Jews in spite of the obvious horrendousness of his acts.
In short, it is the human ability to question morality that prevents us from being truly moral.
That being said, it is quite apparent to any animal owner that out companions are quite aware when they have done something wrong or unacceptable. The question then is, does this animal know their actions were "wrong" in the same sense that we view them as wrong or is it a situation where, like you point out, it is only "wrong" situationally or because they got caught.
Very interesting topic.
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." -Einstein
