ipl-logo

The Biological Basis Of Morality

1325 Words6 Pages

Many great minds in the history of the world tried to find the “birth” of morality; its development and its own place in the world. People provided tons of theories and lots of conjectures and still have not come to the exact theory about the origin of moral ideas. However, there are some theories which are close to the truth and are based on Immanuel Kant’s “Categorical Imperative”, Edward Osborne Wilson’s “The Biological Basis of Morality” and on Andres Luco’s work “The Definition of Morality: Threading the Needle”. Their theories differ from each other, however, in some places they share the same position on morality. This paper closely examines their theories from a various perspectives and answers to the question of where the origin of …show more content…

Wilson is absolutely sure in his point of view; and according to that in “The Biological Basis of Morality” he says “I believe in the independence of moral values, whether from God or not, and I believe that moral values come from human beings alone, whether or not God exists” (1998, p.112). In other words, it means that E.O. Wilson believes that moral values are independent from God or another perfect being; and come along with humans. It is not necessary to be a God to distinguish what is good and wrong. However, there is one common thing that Wilson shares with Kant and that thing is free will. Generally, free will is a process in our mind that exist despite circumstances and changes in the environment. Some scientists believe that there is no such thing as free will; and describe free will as a random event which occurs in our brain. However, there is at least one counter-argument against it which is human tendency to take responsibility for what he does and going beyond other expectations. Moreover, human beings cannot predict the future and know whether their actions are right or wrong. Therefore, free will which is part of nature can give us the answer to this …show more content…

Since the beginning of human existence, our world had different kinds of moral sources which were religion, family, friends. Different sources of morality provided different meanings of morality. Furthermore, morality differs from the one person to another in different circumstances. However, an idea of morality is to provide an instrument which will help the society to develop and keep the difference between human beings and animals. Following that, it would be a mistake to presume that religion and God to be the origin of moral ideas, because humans themselves invented an image of God and the rules that people should obey. Thus, it means that morality does not come from religion but comes from human nature; and people do not have to be religious to develop morality inside them, but definitely religions play a significant role in building a moral basis of the

Show More
Related
1376 Words | 6 Pages

The final chapter, chapter 21, of Russ Shafer-Landau’s book, The Fundamentals of Ethics, emphasis is placed on the fact that moral objectivity is not always completely universal but does not mean the idea of moral objectivism has to be rejected. Moral objectivism states that moral standards should be universal but there are some circumstances and exceptions to this claim. Shafer-Landau presents eleven arguments in chapter 21 that some consider challenges to the universality principle of moral objectivity. Not only will moral objectivism be examined in this paper but also another philosophical view known as moral skepticism will be discussed. In addition to the arguments present by Shafter-Landau’s book this paper will include an analysis from

Read More
1090 Words | 5 Pages

In Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant does not presume to establish moral laws; he posits the basis for moral law itself. Through this process, Kant introduces the opposing concepts of heteronomy, laws provided externally for the individual, and autonomy, laws established via the application of reason. The implication arises that autonomy under Kant's definition is freedom, and that autonomy is a requisite for moral actions. To fully develop an understanding of this relationship it is crucial to deconstruct and integrate his notions of: will, duty, maxim, and imperative. Humans have the unique ability to perceive natural law, and imagine or will those forces to be different.

Read More
1388 Words | 6 Pages

A Rhetoric Analysis of Metaphors used in the Speeches examines the emergence of morality in the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s electoral speeches. It attempts to uncover underlying discursive literal and metaphorical structures in her presidential campaign discourse. The researcher’s goal is to verify whether or not Hillary Clinton introduces herself as a progressive leader who embraces all nurturing moral values that are assumed by Lakoff (2004). The abstract nature of values such as care, fairness, health care, education and the like necessitates the use of literality and metaphors which provide an incite for their conceptualization. On the one hand, the investigation is based on a semantic point of view that relies on an application of Lakoff’s (1996)

Read More
1537 Words | 7 Pages

Free will is the ability of an individual to make choices and act without being controlled by fate or god; this issue has been a topic of debate that has been argued by philosophers from varying societies throughout history. Two philosophers in specific, Pelagius and Skinner, argued opposing views regarding the topic of free will. With Skinner arguing against the freedom of will in “A Technology of Behavior”, whilst Pelagius defends free will and provides examples to support his claims in “Pelagius: Epistle to Demetrias”. This essay will summarize both philosophers’ opinions on the subject of free will as well as give my personal opinion as to which side I agree with. Philosopher B.F. Skinner begins his argument by stating that the world is plagued with terrifying problems, and that naturally man turns towards his two strengths, science and technology to solve problems such as population explosion, nuclear Holocaust, world famine, etc.; however, this is where the trouble lies.

Read More
1426 Words | 6 Pages

1.Introduction Within the essay “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”, Peter Singer offers a new way of seeing the relationship among this three elements, which is extremely different from the traditional understanding of charity, famine relief, morality, etc. It seems that Peter Singer put our position much closer and more related to the situation when facing problems such as famine and poverty and he redraw the distinction between duty and charity which takes more charity as duty. In order to illustrate his principle, he brings out the the famine in 1971 as an hypothetical position. Overall, he brings a new moral standard which is extremely different from traditional points of view upon the issue of charity and famine relief. 2.Identification

Read More
998 Words | 4 Pages

The concept of morality is commonly believed to be a byproduct of religion with “[n]early half of Americans believ[ing] that morality is impossible without belief in god” (Pyysiäinen 44). Yet, the correlation between the two seems to be less concrete with research showing that “[c]ountries with high rates of religiosity tend to have higher rates of homicide, juvenile mortality (including suicide), sexually transmitted diseases and adolescent pregnancy, and abortion ( 45). Moreover, a study evaluated by Pyysiäinen finds that “religiosity has little to nothing to do with how people evaluate the goodness or badness and acceptability vs. non-acceptability of particular moral judgements” (Pyysiäinen 47). Instead of religion creating morals, Broom

Read More
803 Words | 4 Pages

In the academic community, the discussion of free will is surrounded by controversy. At the conception of free will, St. Augustine discovers human freedom of choice in his search for the root of evil. As the modern world attempts to understand the confines (or lack there of) around free will, E.O. Wilson and Gerald Edelman reach their own conclusions. These works verify that our history, rather it be genetic, memorial, or spiritual, constrains the spectrum of our free will.

Read More
1211 Words | 5 Pages

In no story does God instil a sense of morality in humankind. For instance, in the story of Adam and Eve, after being confronted for eating from the tree of knowledge by God, Eve makes the excuse “The serpent tricked me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13). Eve unashamedly lies to God and blames the serpent, instead of owning up to the truth. Clearly God did not instill a moral code in her with the consumption of the apple. Thus she is free to craft and develop her own individual moral code, and create her moral work of art.

Read More
780 Words | 4 Pages

Darwin's philosophy goes as far as to explain the origin of morality. Today, natural selection and the theory of evolution is widely accepted. It is understood that all species, included our own, has benefited from the fine tuning of our traits by means of natural selection. Since humans are descended from animals, who seem to have little to no moral scale, morals were not created before natural selection. Rather, what eventually separated us from our animal ancestors was our development of intellect and morality.

Read More
652 Words | 3 Pages

Eylul Icgoren 21601232 005 Essay no 2 29.11.16 Morality is to understand whether a behavior or an event is good or evil. Morals prevent chaos in societies and make them survive. Bloom, Shermer and Prinze analyze how morals shape and what are they based on. They tell that it is possible in two ways, which are emotions and reasoning.

Read More
1057 Words | 5 Pages

o On the other hand, it is conceivable that a person is free to have the will he wants by chance, therefore it may be a matter of chance that some people enjoy freedom of will. o Also, conceivable that states of affairs can occur in another way than chance or as the outcome of a sequence of natural causes. Therefore, if events come about in this other way, then it is also possible that a person in that way enjoys freedom of will. Conclusions/Main Concepts: • Difference between people and other creatures - only humans have second-order desires. • Freedom of action and freedom of will =

Read More
1634 Words | 7 Pages

Thesis Statement: Origin of Morality Outline A.Universal Ethics 1.Karl Barth, The Command of God 2.Thomas Aquinas, The Natural Law 3.Thomas Hobbes, Natural Law and Natural Right 4.Immanuel Kant, The Categorical Imperative B.Morality and Practical Reason 1.Practical Reason a.Practical Reason and Practical Reasons C.Evolution of Morality 1.What makes Moral Creatures Moral 2.Explaining the Nature of Moral Judgments F. Answering Questions 1. What is the origin of Morality: Religion or Philosophy? 2. What does religion say about morality?

Read More
874 Words | 4 Pages

For the humanist who truly wants to find the source that grounds her affirmation that we are invested with intrinsic value and purpose, the fact that God serves as that grounding brings her home. It brings her to true humanism” (104). If there were no objective to morality then that would mean that we would have to redefine purpose. There is no moral value without God.

Read More
1202 Words | 5 Pages

In order for free will free will to be tangible, an individual would have to have control over his or her actions regardless of any external factors. It can be argued that the inevitability of

Read More
929 Words | 4 Pages

Ethics and Religion The human views on ethics are greatly influenced by certain beliefs, such as religion or philosophical ideas. Philosophy and religion are similar in this sense; they both are morally influential. However, if a person did not have such views, he/she is still capable of having good morals. Though religion is very impacting in many people’s ethical standings, and a majority of human morality is derived from some belief in religion or supported by philosophical reasoning, it is not the only way a person can be moral.

Read More

More about The Biological Basis Of Morality

Related Topics

Open Document