But doesn't that view of morality lead to nihilism? If morality is simply an evolutionary trait that helps a species survive, what does that mean for the individual? Why should the individual be concerned with his own or others' survival, if the only reason to be concerned is that that is the only way his survival is ensured? Survival has become its own end with nothing justifying it but our instincts. But, as I think we agreed on earlier, all we have is our instincts. Even reason, in attempting to overcome our instincts, is just another instinct. So in that case if all that justifies morality is our own instincts, but our instincts are everything, then everything justifies morality! But I think it's well worth noting that if that is true, then there is no such thing as free will. And morality operates on the principle of free will, it assumes that we are actually free to make moral choices. If we're not, and our instincts, as programmed into us by our environment, make all our choices for us, then morality is just an attempt to justify the choices we were always going to make, and as such is meaningless.
|