Replacing Religious Morality

[genkaus]

And that, in a long-winded way, is the essence of morality. We are social creatures. We depend on each other to survive. Any action that threatens the survival and progression of the society is wrong. At a basic level, that's where right and wrong comes from. Our complex social structure and advanced intelligence has evolved that basic concept of morality but ultimately, morality is basic evolution and its origins are no different than the behaviour we see in other social creatures. Evolution gave us basic morality for our survival and then we built on it.

So, according to you, if Jacob had taught others to grow wheat and raise cattle - if the survival of the tribe did not depend on him - then then Isaac's actions would not have been deemed immoral? We may depend on each other for survival, but the fact remains, one individual's actions rarely rise to the level of threatening the existence of another individual and almost never to the level of threatening the survival and progression of society.

The argument is often made that if there is no objective morality, there is no right and wrong. This is a load of bull. If all laws were thrown out tomorrow and everything became completely legal, society would collapse and we would doom ourselves. We aren't moral because a magic man in the cloud told us to be. We're moral because if we weren't, everything we've built would crumble. It's ultimately a very simple idea. What benefits the individual should benefit the collective and what benefits the collective should benefit the individual.

And where what benefits the individual does not benefit the collective, then why should he forgo that benefit?

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Yes I can. And I do.


If your reality was truly subject to my whims then your reality would be subjective.

Wrong.

Wrong. If your reality was truly subject to my whims then your reality would be subjective.

Missed the point.

Care to illuminate?

You are the one who keeps insisting that god is capable of changing the nature of the box and the buttons on a whim.
 

I know

And that's what would make the box subjective.

You mean the capacity for reason? And yes, brain function is more than chamocal reactions in the same way a computer program is more than electrical pulses.

Ones and zeroes

Apparently, all zeroes in your case.

Moral psychology identifies and interprets morals and their development. It does not make morals. If Person A believed that murder was ok, psychology would say, "Person A believes it so."

It also identifies the causes of those beliefs and the fundamental impetus behind the development of those beliefs. Thus it can differentiate between those built on solid ground and those built on nutty ones - like religion. And that insight gives psychology the ability to develop a moral system that is based on human nature.