What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[abaris]

It's almost like we instinctively know it's wrong. But where does it come from? And if someone was brought up being taught that it's ok to kill people, and they do so, they would still be doing something immoral. Because murder is immoral regardless of how the person feels about it.

See, that's exactly the idea every theist brings into this board as if it was something novel. First, you have to descent from the religiously inspired human high horse and have a look at the world surrounding you. We know because we're a social species. There are advantages to being what you call good, since you get the support of your peers if you are.

And we're not the only species working that way. Not by a long chalk. Virtually every social species refrains from hurting or killing their peers. And, maybe you're different from the other we had here before, you can easily look up recent cognition research on animals to see that compassion and other so called human emotions, aren't exclusively human either.

And I can't understand for the life of me why every new arrival needs their very own "why be good" thread.