One of the slogans of modern philosophy is that one can't derive an "ought" from an "is"; in other words, one cannot derive prescriptive statements from descriptive statements. If morality cannot be proven, is morality as illusory, in your opinion, as God?
2006-08-22 06:27:35 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Our cognitive structures have a starting set point based on our genetics and gestational environment. They then form cognitive spaces with boundaries defined by the original set point, nutrition, general plasticity of the system, and the set of behavioral examples they are exposed to. These cognitive spaces can be described to greater or lesser degrees using rules, but they are not products of such rules. This is why religion does not lead social change, and why morality seems so culturally defined. But it does not mean morality does not exist. It simply means the truth or falsehood of human morality, of our mental nature in general, cannot be understood through rules, something that has been demonstrated by Kurt Godel. Following the rules can help us grow, but we must transcended them to get to a level where morality is actually understood.
2006-08-22 06:55:55 · answer #1 · answered by neil s 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It may well be possible to explain concepts of altruism, right & wrong through natural law.
Are you familiar with game theory? If you've watched the movie, "A Beautiful Mind", there's a scene where the main character comes up with a "game theory" on how he and his friends can hook up with some girls. Game theory is basically cost-benefit analysis on human interactions.
It explains that certain human interactions are INHERENTLY beneficial. Things like kindness, altruism, not lying, etc will help individuals to survive. Granted, there are times where the payout to lie, cheat, and steal are worth more than playing be the rules... but generally playing by the rules pays out.
What does this mean? We are descended from a long line of survivors. The odds of survival favor people who exhibit ethics/morals over those who lie, cheat, and steal all the time.
Example: a computer simulation of "The Prisoner's Dilemna", showed that the following was the best strategy: trust and cooperate with someone. If that person screws you over, immediately screw them back, just as hard. Then... forgive them. Sounds like, "an eye for an eye", doesn't it? We have a natural tendency towards certain moral behaviors.
2006-08-22 13:37:15 · answer #2 · answered by imrational 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Forget the philosophy and try something more concrete like game theory. If everyone behaves in a cutthroat manner towards each other, innumerable resources must be wasted on deception and defense. These are resources that could be put to better use in other ways. Wouldn't you prefer to spend your time playing with your children than installing a new set of security equipment on your house? All that is required to allow us to do so is for people to treat each other with respect. Why is that too much to ask?
2006-08-22 13:41:34 · answer #3 · answered by scifiguy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
does it need to? i mean....we living in asociety with good morals, so i fail to see how morality needs to be proven.
its like asking someone to prove gravity. do we need to? its woking as we speak.
hello imrational!
2006-08-22 13:37:19 · answer #4 · answered by johnny_zondo 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋