quotePerhaps the instinct to moralize has evolved. I'm hard pressed to think of any vice which has not been acceptable to some human society, somewhere, at some time./quote
if atheism is true then I think there will be some kind of evolutionary story one can tell about the development of our moral sense and beliefs. those disposed to view certain types of act as ones they have reason not to perform whatever their ends are people who can trust each other (to some extent). if I believe you believe lying to be something you have reason not to do even if you want to, I can trust you more than I can someone who thinks they have reason not to lie only so long as they happen to want not to lie.
The problem, however, is that morality itself is not these sensations and beliefs. For morality to really exist there would have to be some acts that we really do have reason not to do whatever our ends. And there are not. That's why I think morality does not really exist if atheism is true, it merely 'appears' to exist.
if atheism is true then I think there will be some kind of evolutionary story one can tell about the development of our moral sense and beliefs. those disposed to view certain types of act as ones they have reason not to perform whatever their ends are people who can trust each other (to some extent). if I believe you believe lying to be something you have reason not to do even if you want to, I can trust you more than I can someone who thinks they have reason not to lie only so long as they happen to want not to lie.
The problem, however, is that morality itself is not these sensations and beliefs. For morality to really exist there would have to be some acts that we really do have reason not to do whatever our ends. And there are not. That's why I think morality does not really exist if atheism is true, it merely 'appears' to exist.
