What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[pocaracas]

CL-

Now that your thread has been completely de-railed by the Catholic bashers,

That reminds me...

perhaps we could move back in the general direction of your OP and consider another related question: WHERE does objective moral truth come from? What is its source?

How about if "objective moral truth" isn't really a thing?
How have you determined that such a thing is real?

It seems to me there are a number of possibilities including:

1. Evolution
2. Oneself
3. Our society or culture
4. Reason
5. God

Evolution is often suggested as the source for our morality, but I don't think this really works. The evolutionary explanation claims that as our species evolved, human beings who acted in moral ways (such as those who cooperated and did not kill or steal) lived longer than those who didn't. As a result, we now have the instinct to be moral that has developed over millions of years.

While evolution may explain why we act in a certain way, it doesn't explain why we should or shouldn't act in those ways. At best, moral truths which are products of evolution are not commandments which we are bound to obey but suggestions that assist our "herd" in it survival. But if our community decided to kill handicapped children after birth, if would be moral, since weeding out genetically inferior or defective individuals would improve the overall health of the herd.

And it once was... remember Trojans!

Since then, our numbers have enlarged greatly and we can accommodate a few freeloaders, such as handicapped people, homosexuals, single aunts, etc...

And if rape were indeed an effective way to reproduce with a human community, and morality came from evolution, the rape would not be immoral, would it?

In a tribal style of society, how many women who get pregnant from a rape are actually willing to nurture that baby?
How many would try to get an abortion that could also end up killing themselves? Doesn't look so great as an effective way to reproduce, huh?

So, these are a few objections to the idea that evolution is the source of our moral behavior.

Thoughts on this before I move to the next source, the self?

Lets, lets...