If our morals are internal, biological, or self-imposed, how can we impose them on others? or expect them from others?
2007-03-16 06:48:06 · 12 answers · asked by Bebe 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Good question .....and logical!
Morals should come from a higher source than mankind.
Otherwise, as you say, someone could ask: why should I, we're equals.
They must come from a higher and respectable source.
God would seem to fit the bill.
He made man and therefore would know what morals we need.
2007-03-16 06:56:34 · answer #1 · answered by Uncle Thesis 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Morality is the expression and codification of aspects of human nature such as empathy, compassion, affection and self-interest, all of which are features bestowed upon us by evolution. Clearly we could never have the kind of highly organised, highly technological, close-knit society we all live in without self-imposed restraints on our behavious - These traits along with others such as intelligence and dexterity have proven to be an extraordinarily successful survival strategy for our genes, and are therefore highly favoured by natural selection. So, morality is a successful feature of humans in exactly the same kind of way that wings are a successful feature of birds.
2007-03-16 13:54:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Moiraes is correct. Morals are relative, not absolute... they are mostly determined by what society decides as a whole.
For example, I consider it moral to lie to a person in order to prevent someone else from being killed. This would still be a sin in a Christian worldview... "Thou shalt not lie" is absolute and cannot be avoided. That is the main problem with absolute morality... there is no room for situations.
It's really not that hard to figure out. You are a loving, caring, decent human being... but certainly not because an outdated tome told you to be.
2007-03-16 13:56:10 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There are chemicals in the brain known as inhibitors. These things restrict our primal urges, and help us work in a social environment, a product of the higher mind to see past itself. It is a part of how we are evolving, it helped the species survive. The higher mind is a way for a being to determine on the fly that something might be better and not without having to wait for it to be proven through evolution. A great tool in a deterministic species.
2007-03-16 13:58:56 · answer #4 · answered by Magus 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To me morals are what is needed to have an equal and successful society for everyone, be it a country or a little village in the middle of nowhere
2007-03-16 13:55:50 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They grow out of your gums at the back of your mouth, and no, you shouldn't impose them on others.
Oh, did you say "morals"? Don't know.
2007-03-16 13:55:34 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Regardless of where they come from...
Morals are pointless without a larger purpose...
People choose morality because it gives us a sense of that higher purpose. But a moral in and of itself, is pointless without hope in something more than this life.
2007-03-16 13:56:12 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
God. Your follow-up questions are correct. "Morality" must be absolute and unchanging in order to be called morality.
If the universe were just matter and energy, there could be no morals. What one collection of matter does to another collection of matter would be morally irrelevant.
2007-03-16 13:57:59 · answer #8 · answered by Biz Iz 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
they are a combination of external influences acting upon us, our own internal selves, and the combination of the two.
the best way to "impose" them is to lead by example.
2007-03-16 13:54:12 · answer #9 · answered by kent_shakespear 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Determined by societal norm.
2007-03-16 13:51:34 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋