Atheists: what is your motivation to act morally?

Question

What is your motivation to act morally and ethically, when there is no judgement or reward for your actions? I was wondering because it seems that Christians are motivated by the reward of heaven, and I can only think of limited motives for Atheists to behave morally.

SkyClad: I am not a Christian, and I don't think there is any reward for acting morally, I was intrested in seeing what motivates other atheists to behave morally.

A lot of people giving answers to do with their society; does this mean that you would go along with your society, say, if you were living in Nazi Germany?
Good answers so far.

Answer 1

I won't repeat what was said above by other answerers, so I'll address the additional info bit.

If you were brought up in a society that did something the modern world considers to be morally outrageous (like, say, leaving your dead child out for the birds to pick at because you believe his soul will then be accepted by the Bird God), then you would think that's the "right" and "moral" thing to do. In fact, all your neighbors would shun you and reject you from the society if you buried the kid ("How dare you dirty his soul with DIRT?!")

Morality has gotten better over the years as more and more people have meshed together in one big global community. Those communities that could accept the global intrusion on their values were accepted, and flourished. Others that refused died off. Even now, China's human rights violations are going down because they want to have the economic benefits of mingling with the global society. Cultures and values are commodities like everything else.

So yes, if you grew up in Nazi Germany and were told from birth that Jews were the cause of all mankind's evils -- until you had a Jewish friend or read/saw something that contradicted that thought, you would believe that too. What is generally considered to be "good morality" (things like tolerance and appraisal of diversity) only come about from exposure to the "other."

The most bigoted people are the ones who have never ventured outside their "click."

Answer 2

If Christians are motivated by the reward of Heaven, and are 100% sure it's true, they'd give a lot more of their money to the poor, and live simply. If their morality came from the Bible, they'd presumably follow all of it, rather than just the easy stuff like not killing people.

There is judgement for our actions, even if our only life is the one here on Earth. From ourselves, and from those around us. If this is the only life we have, we value it more - and value the lives of others more.

Also, is doing good and not doing bad only because you anticipate reward and fear punishment actually moral behaviour at all? This would seem to be, strictly speaking, entirely selfish behaviour, even if the outcome is mostly the same.

If you consider when Christians decide to deviate from a literal reading of the Bible (or, what some people say the literal reading is), and instead create an alternate morality (they say "relevant to the modern world" or the like), then this "new" morality had to come from somewhere else, didn't it? I'd argue, that, in fact, what's happening is all morality comes from this source - the individual's sense of what's right - and then sources are filtered after-the-fact, and not the other way around. Being atheist doesn't remove the sense of what's right.

So, my feeling is that morality has a lot in common on either side of the fence, except for an atheist, there is no appeal to an unchanging authority when time demands a change.

Answer 3

I just don't want to hurt anyone. I wouldn't kill anyone since I don't have the right to take away their life just like they don't have the right to take away mine. It hurts them and their family and loved ones. Stealing always hurts someone down the line, there will always be someone that ends up having to pay for what you stole and that's just not nice. I also like to do the 'right' thing because I know how unhappy I am when something bad happens and I wouldn't want someone else to feel that way if I can help the situation. I don't enjoy seeing other people upset. My motivation is that I wish people could be happy because happy people are less apt to hurt others. It's like how a lot of abused children grow up and become abusers themselves. People that are treated poorly tend to treat others poorly and it's cyclical. The 'reward' is that we try to break that cycle and make the world a happier and safer place to live while we are here. It has nothing to do with an afterlife (or whatever)

Answer 4

There are rewards and a consequences for my actions, same as yours. We deal with them every day. If I act immoraly or unethically people will know this and deal with me accordingly. Also I have a concept of right and wrong. It is heavily influenced by societal pressures and evironment but I believe it is somewhat inate. You dont take things from someone or hurt someone because you would not want them to do so to you. I do not need an omnipresent watcher to make sure I do the right thing. I am my own watcher. Granted I may not find the same things imorral as you, but your morals and ethics are shaped by your religious beliefs. Mine are shaped by observation and introspection. Arguments can be made for the validity of either. I prefer mine as it is in my eyes based on reality and not supernaturals beliefs.

Answer 5

I act in the best interests of society for the benefit of that society and myself as a member of it.
If someone only acts morally because they want to go to heaven or avoid hell, then they're basically stuck in the second of Kohlberg's six stages of moral development. These people are concerned only with themselves, only helping others because they expect a reward.

And in relation to Nazi Germany, in my opinion, conforming to Hitler's regime would not have been in the best interests of society. I'll admit there's a fair degree of subjectivity there, but it's basically the Golden Rule.

Answer 6

If you need the motivation of going to heaven inorder to treat people right, there is something wrong with you. I am a Christian, but I don't need a book to tell me how to behave or the promise of "heaven" to motivate me.
Treating people with respect is something you should do because you want them to treat you the same way. Anyone who treats people well only out of fear of God is just a bad person, and god sees that.

Answer 7

Atheists are not breaking any more laws than the Christians. They are law abiding citizens who do what is naturally right without the concept of a reward of heaven and the threat of hell.

Their motives to do what is right is realistic

As you are aware, civil laws are quite comprehensive, and it certainly makes sense to obey them. In fact, when civil and church law clash, civil law makes the ultimate decision Also, our upbringing , the society we live in, all are factors in shaping our morales. Probably, most important of all, a sense of judgment and emotions that are instilled within us that guide us all.

Answer 8

logic,reason,common sense

if christians are only good people cause they want to go to heaven that is reallly sad, so would christians just behave like cruel inhumane beasts if they did not believe there was a heaven and what about the christians who used to publicly practice inhumanity through auot-da;fe ( act of faith) by burning heretics during the inquisitions where was there motivation to behave morally or the popes who produced bastard children?

Answer 9

The thing that motivates me in acting moral is common sense and the knowledge of humanity. I think everyone has some sense of humane in them and I guess the bible helps you maximize it. Your question implies Atheists are immoral because of the lack of religion which is not true.

Answer 10

I evolved that way. I really have no choice but to act morally. Internal feedback mechanisms preventing immoral actions are simply too strong to resist. Of course they prevent me from even wanting to do anything immoral. We have evolved to receive a powerful positive feeling when we do something good to others.

Now yes I know you are going to say "What about that parking ticket you had in 1980? Well the fact is I didn't see that "no parking" sign.