Why be good?

[Randy Carson]

What I am asking is: what is the BASIS for objective moral behavior? Where does it come from?

Firstly, there is none. 'Objective' moral behaviour doesn't exist. All morality is subjective. So if we correct your question to 'What is the basis for moral behaviour?', you've already been given the answer. I'll repeat & simplify:

The basis for all moral behaviour, like everything else in our evolutionary development, is survival. Humans developed as a social species because those who behaved socially survived and reproduced more effectively thus propagating the genes for social behaviour. Further along human development, those societies which developed ethical standards (commonly referred to as social contracts, the precursors of law) survived better because they increased the effectiveness of social behaviour.

That's the basis, that's where morality comes from, all of it. No gods required.

If God does not exist, why be good?

It seems like the best option by a pretty good margin.  Most creatures seek out some kind of optimal life, and humans have become pretty sophisticated at it.  If all food is nourishing, why bother spending time finding and preparing the best foods?  If all clothing provides utility, why care about how it looks?  If all homes provide shelter, why care about how big the kitchen is?

Without a god or old book to tell us, what is the basis for wanting to present an attractive appearance?  Or wanting to prepare and eat the best foods?  Or wanting to live in a nice home?  Or wanting more than just to stumble through life without caring whether we're enjoying it or not?  Easy: we seek an optimal life.  An orderly and civilized society that follows certain rules that have stood the test of time and experimentation seems like a good starting point, so it's something we pursue without having to be ordered to by a divine being.

I hear you both, but it seems to me that while all the sheep are working together to find the pastures, there are still wolves looking to make a meal of them all. 

Somehow, the evolutionary process does not seem to have had an equal affect on all of us.

And the point of the OP is: Why should anyone be a sheep when the advantages of being a wolf are numerous?

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Ha ha! Man did those goalposts move pretty quick!


Went from why to where in a flash.

The questions are naturally related.

The key question is: Why be good? Under the theory of evolution, there is not real reason that I can see. Simply getting along with everyone is a warm and fuzzy reason (and it may be legit for some), but I'm not sure it's applicable to all (or even any) of us. It's true when food is plentiful, but what happens when an EMP takes out the power grid?

Where morality comes from simply seeks to place an origin for the behavior which, allegedly, is good.