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streetwaves · 12-05-2008, 08:30 PM

No, not in the sense that I mean. The fact that this innate sense of morality helps us to advance is why it has survived natural selection, but it's purely coincidental. This isn't to demean morality in any way, but to explain how it came about and why it continues to exist. Morality doesn't need justification, in the same way that we don't need further justification for any of our other senses or traits. The fact that it helps us to survive is enough. Morality is a sort of instinctual trait, but at the same time, it does not mean there is no free will. To consult your moral beliefs before doing something doesn't eliminate free will (just as consulting any form of information before making a decision doesn't mean you didn't really make a choice), and choosing to do something in spite of what your morals might tell you doesn't render morals meaningless (just as making the wrong choice doesn't render the information you read meaningless). They didn't help that particular situation, but the potential was there. Even if we do something wrong, us knowing of our mistake can contribute to improving ourselves for the future. This doesn't need to be something purely instinctual in the way that you describe it in order to avoid being weeded out by natural selection, it only needs to be something that better ensures our continued existence. I think perhaps that empathy is another trait that has evolved in human beings that complements our morality, and similarly has been accepted by evolution.

I tried to sound coherent there, but I might have contradicted myself somewhere. My point should be, though, that an idea of God doesn't make us any more free-willed than we are without one. By the way, if my view seems to be leading anywhere, I'd say it'd probably be leaning more towards Existentialism than Nihilism.

12-05-2008, 08:30 PM	#136 (permalink)
streetwaves Music Addict Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 267	No, not in the sense that I mean. The fact that this innate sense of morality helps us to advance is why it has survived natural selection, but it's purely coincidental. This isn't to demean morality in any way, but to explain how it came about and why it continues to exist. Morality doesn't need justification, in the same way that we don't need further justification for any of our other senses or traits. The fact that it helps us to survive is enough. Morality is a sort of instinctual trait, but at the same time, it does not mean there is no free will. To consult your moral beliefs before doing something doesn't eliminate free will (just as consulting any form of information before making a decision doesn't mean you didn't really make a choice), and choosing to do something in spite of what your morals might tell you doesn't render morals meaningless (just as making the wrong choice doesn't render the information you read meaningless). They didn't help that particular situation, but the potential was there. Even if we do something wrong, us knowing of our mistake can contribute to improving ourselves for the future. This doesn't need to be something purely instinctual in the way that you describe it in order to avoid being weeded out by natural selection, it only needs to be something that better ensures our continued existence. I think perhaps that empathy is another trait that has evolved in human beings that complements our morality, and similarly has been accepted by evolution. I tried to sound coherent there, but I might have contradicted myself somewhere. My point should be, though, that an idea of God doesn't make us any more free-willed than we are without one. By the way, if my view seems to be leading anywhere, I'd say it'd probably be leaning more towards Existentialism than Nihilism. __________________ rateyourmusic Last edited by streetwaves; 12-05-2008 at 10:19 PM.