Atheists: what is the basis of your moral philosophy...?

Question

...without God as moral arbiter or the soul as the intrinsic essence that gives value to human life?

Yourmuda and Boss: I am disappointed in my fellow atheists for blindly assuming that I believe God and the soul are necessary components of a moral philosophy, rather than actually answering the question. No need to react so angrily when you feel you are being challenged.
God and the soul are convenient crutches for creating a (self-referential) moral philosophy. Given that atheists do not believe in either, what is the alternative?
Ever heard of devil's advocate? NB: that doesn't mean that I believe in the Devil!

Answer 1

I think natural selection creates the moral compass. If we didn't care for our children, LOVE our children, we might abandon them at the first site of, say, an aopportunity to go out and have fun, and then they might die, and not have their own children, and the species would not propagate. If we didn't treat our neighbors with some level of kindness and morality, maybe not as much as we show our children, they might kill us for our garden vegetables, but then our children might kill their children, etc. I think that the species' survival depends on a consistent moral philosophy, and that is what we have developed. I think that is also why animals show tenderness, love, and are willing to nurse other animals' babies (sometimes), form communities with leaders, etc.

Answer 2

God as an arbiter? I feel that to be a very dumb conception as why would god create everything and then judge us? Does he not have better things to do? How can he judge something that he himself created? I have tons of other questions like this, and have never been answered. As to the soul, I think soul means 'breath', and not some devine thing that gives value to human life. Soul is the essence of existence and not human life, and I think an atheist may possess that much. The basis of my moral philosophy incorporates, science, because science is the basis of our understanding. My moral philosophy is that, man has to learn to live independantly, without all these other super natural deities. One has to learn to adapt in society, and yet live for himself. What may be mundane acts like giving and forgiving, lead to the mystical experience without the need for a biblical, all powerful, abjudicater. One's mundane emotions, are what lead to the cosmis sense of happiness, and it is myself who can bring about heaven on Earth, and there is no need for a deity. My creation, my foundation, and my death, lie in the grips of science, and infact it is all irelevant indeed, for all that matters is what I make of myself here.

Answer 3

Atheism does not preclude the existence of a spiritual component of the human being. The foundation of my philosophy, though, is a commitment to the principal of kindness to all living things. From this I derive my duty to free myself from all passions that interfere with that first duty. These include, but are not limited to, anger, hatred, bias, prejudice, judgment, the assignment of blame, and the tendency to choose sides. Doing this can take a lifetime.

There are exceptions, of course. Life is complicated and cannot be reduced to absolutes. One point in case is my participation in Topix discussions surrounding the issues of crime in my area. There are criminals who have committed acts of extreme violence and cruelty, and common sense dictates that they be confined for the sake of public safety and punished in the manners set forth in the law. I find that I cannot participate without some element of judgment. What I try do is to persuade at least a few others to keep their passions within the bounds of reason and to leave the ranks of the lynch mob. It's a hard sell, but someone must at least try. That is a role I've chosen for myself.

This, of course, is but one example and not the whole of my philosophy. That would require a book, which I'd write if I thought that enough people were really interested. It is obviously beyond the scope of this discussion.

Answer 4

There are two kinds of moral- one that comes from within and one that comes from without. all morals are learned but it is the ones that you accept as your own that truly come from within. so you can listen to religion and it's morals ether because you are afraid of punishment (outside type of moral) or because you truly believe in that kind of lifestyle.
It's the same when you are an atheist. you learn what is good/bad from society as you grow up and you can follow these morals because you are afraid of criticism or because you crave acceptance- OR because you truly have faith in those norms.
it is not fear of an arbiter that should make you follow your moral as it is not a soul that gives life it's value. life is value on it's own.

Answer 5

I'm a free thinker not an atheist, so try to stay neutral.

The bible is a storybook passed down for years. It was started to tell the history of man. It was taken from the tribe of tellers and given to the council of evil men. These men started to tell others how it would be. These men became rulers out of fear. They lied about truths for centuries. Spirit is real and it take no building or sermon to have it. Jesus himself said don't worship false idols; i.e. our pastors. He destroyed the market they made out of his temple. He said turn a rock and I'm there. Nature is the true beginning and end. There are no higher ups in religion, just a man appointed office title. Just like a politician, there never was separation between church and state.
In my personal and American given opinion to have freedom of speech. The pope is the least most spiritual man on planet. He gets his position by buying in just like the president as of late.

Answer 6

Compassion. I basically recognize (on mostly logical/philosophical and scientific grounds – but also to some extent on faith) that all things in existence are interconnected. Modern physics suggests radical holism. The world is not a collection of independent entities that just happen to interact. Rather, the very existence of each entity is interdependent with all other entities throughout all space and time. One might say, for example, on the basis of quantum mechanics, that there is (in a certain sense) only one electron in the whole universe. My point is that we are all interdependent aspects of One Being, and Being Itself is "thrown" into existence – there is no ultimate meaning for Existence, but rather, Existence simply IS. We must live as best we can in light of what is given.

Once you genuinely understand this, you come to see that your sense of yourself as an independent ego is a sort of illusion. We are all expressions of the One and Same Being. Thus "the golden rule" becomes a completely rational basis for morality. It is literally true that "what you do to others, you do to yourself" – even though our unenlightened egos are typically incapable of recognizing the radically deep truth of this. To recognize yourself in other beings, and treat them (and yourself) with respect is essentially what is meant by compassion, which is why I say that compassion is the basis of my moral philosophy.

And just for fun, I want to address the answer given by "writeaway". You contradict yourself. You say we are so full of pride that we can't fathom something greater than ourselves, but you also say "do you consider yourself so low that you REALLY believe you have evolved from the monkey?" I don't consider myself to be either full of pride, nor "low". The interconnectedness of all living things – as we see exemplified in the evolutionary tree of life – is neither a source of egotistical pride, nor shame. Each being is an expression of the whole. Just because I do not have faith in YOUR god does not mean that I am ignorant, nor that I am full of pride, nor full of shame. It doesn't necessarily imply much of anything, other than my willingness and ability to think for myself.

Answer 7

Most people believes in God and try to do good because they are afraid of God's wrath and judgment day and others to bad karma. But when a person has in-born empathy and compassion, even if he/she is an atheist, it's his/her nature to want to do good deeds without thinking of whatever rewards or punishments.

Answer 8

I have found that I do not require a god to guide my moral compass. I have compassion in my heart for the world (people and animals) and conduct myself in a manner that I believe is beyond reproach. I live honestly and by a standard that most christians preach. You can be an atheist and still follow the Ten Commandments. I do not live with the fear of hell or the hope of heaven, but I conduct my life with upstanding morals. It is possible.

Answer 9

An unusual answer: I think "basis of your moral philosophy" is an artificial concept, not only unnecessary, but also confusing to clear thought.

I live my life like, I suspect, millions of others, doing what I think is best at the time. I don't believe I consciously (or unconsciously) refer each decision to some sort of ultimate arbiter.

Answer 10

I think atheists believe that their is no proof that there is a God.

Why does everything have to have a purpose? Can't we just be happy for its own sake.

You give yourself a human value. We are creatures that could think for ourselves and are capable of love. We are a precious wonder.