really? you knew a lot of cavemen, then? now on the one hand you're saying morality is innate, and on the other that it evolved out of a desire to survive. now let me point out that the desire to survive is none other than the fear of death, so if you're saying that morality probably evolved out of the fear of death i would say that's certainly possible, but you haven't sidestepped the fear issue. if, on the other hand, it didn't evolve and it's just completely innate then it seems absurd that it would be the subject of so much discussion, seeing as how we all already agree.
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Originally Posted by jibber
Not in my mind no. Someone who refrains from causing harm on others merely because it is against the law and only because they fear repercussions from society is no better than someone who only refrains from causing harm because of the fear of god.
A truly good person is someone who seeks to help people not just to "earn brownie points with jesus" or to earn brownie points from society, but because they are driven by something inside them, and have some internal motivation to make a positive difference in whatever way. The motivation shouldn't come from a fear of god or a fear of society, it should come from an internal desire to do good.
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by some mysterious "thing inside them," some strange motivation. an internal desire to do good. is this merely an amplified fear of society's judgment, or perhaps an ego-desire to be seen as a good person? maybe it's just a chemical reaction that's gotten wired to certain neurons, so that when you think about starving children you start to feel miserable and worthless. looking at it in a skeptical, detached and scientific manner reduces such feelings to banality. now if you want to say this thing inside is "love" or "justice," which you're treating as a transcendent entity somehow more than just dopamine being triggered in the brain, you might as well be talking about the soul or god since most transcendent concepts are pretty much equivalent.