Board index ‹ Morality

[Fire Spirit]

I'm an atheist, and I believe that objective morality does exist, but it certainly doesn't come from god, nor does it need to. There are things which are always wrong for all instances in all contexts, such as rape and slavery.

[jimwalton]

Christians generally believe that morality is grounded in the character of God, and objective morality is humanity living by the unchangeable standard to God's transcendent nature.

But if you believe that there are things that are always wrong for all instances in all contexts, from where does that universal urge derive? Evolution can't account for it, for evolution has no concern for truth, but only for natural selection and survival (food, fight, flight, and reproduction). The principal function of our cognitive faculties is not that of producing true or nearly true beliefs, but only survival. Evolutionary naturalism doesn't guarantee "truth". Our beliefs might be mostly true, but they might not, and there's no particular reason to this they would be. Natural selection doesn't care a rat's tail for truth, but in behavior that enables one to survive. Naturalistic evolution, proposing that our cognitive faculties have evolved by mechanisms and processes (as proposed by evolutionary theory) gives us every reason to doubt both (a) that one purpose of our brains is to serve us with true beliefs, and (b) that they do, in fact, do just that. Evolution simply cannot account for a universal moral standard.

If you assume a universal moral standard, you have to assume several things: a source for that standard that is beyond each human individual, and the intrinsic worth of human beings that make such things are rape and slavery universally wrong. Neither of those overarching bases can come from chemical mechanisms, physical laws, or natural selection.

While you may think that morality is merely the expression of human beings to cooperate in ways that contribute to survival, then morality is ultimately the expression of self-interest, and not a universal code (that can regulate such things as rape and slavery). Acting for the welfare of others is not necessarily the best path to survival nor to increasing one's personal fitness for the next generation. Instead such behaviors can be rife with danger, promote docility and mental confusion: should I save her or myself? They are more maladaptive than beneficial for one's own survival.

Even if morality is perceived as a civil good and exercised as a social construct leading to an idealized society, there is still no explanation for the universality of such behavior, for at times, by certain cultures, both rape and slavery could potentially be perceived as "for the well being of society," depending on the culture and the historical context. If you posit an objective morality, you must posit a source beyond humanity for that drive.