Moral law in Humans and other animals

[abaris]

Er, why is it assumed that what is most advantageous to our survival is selfishness or that dominating/harming other creatures is natural and a sign of "fitness"? Cooperation and altruism is a perfectly valid evolutionary strategy. Violence is risky and not something to be engaged in lightly. Cheating others in a social group is risky and not something to be engaged in lightly. That's the foundation of our moral impulses. When we expand our moral horizons, it's co-opting or strengthening mechanisms that are already there, isn't it?

Within your own group. We're closely related to chimps and while violence among their own groups are rare, they go out of their way to wage war on a different group of chimps.

That's what we're dealing with when it comes to our heritage.

Also the lion example has it's exemptions. There are instances with lions being saved by certain humans and the animal remembered them fondly even years later and certainly didn't view them as their next meal.

As for dogs, there are pretty recent scientific discoveries about their real cognitive potential. Look up the research of Professor Hare and his dognition center. To compare them to predators is fundamentally wrong, since their evolution and socialisation is closely linked to our own species.