Morality is not subjective

[ArtieE]

Morality is a product of the human mind and therefore inherently subjective.

Morality is a product of evolution and natural selection because being able to differentiate between what is "right", good for survival, and "wrong", bad for survival, gave us a survival advantage.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Morality is a product of evolution and natural selection because being able to differentiate between what is "right", good for survival, and "wrong", bad for survival, gave us a survival advantage.

Yes, and particularly in terms of building cohesive societies.

 

[ArtieE]

Yes, and particularly in terms of building cohesive societies.

Of course. Building cohesive societies and behaving in a manner that keep them cohesive and stable and functional improves our chances of survival.

 

[Augustus]

So neither of you dispute that there is no logical requirement that those acts that in every country of the world today that, if committed, would be considered murder be illegal. Is that right?

I'm still unsure of your actual point. Yes, all countries put limits on the killing of others, although these limits vary significantly. Rules like these help society to function.

Historically though, many cultures accepted killing others to steal their wealth, especially people of different societies. Even today. there are those within societies that would consider it acceptable to kill simply to steal someone's wealth. I'm pretty sure that if you guaranteed there would be no repercussions and no one would ever find out, a fair proportion of people would kill another in exchange for a large sum of money.

How does your point relate to the OP? What does it 'prove'?

 

[viole]

I recently came to the conclusion after some reading and thinking that the idea of morality being subjective is absurd. When I say morality is objective I mean that moral goodness exists independent of what people do or think.

Any non-theists here who agree with me?

This non-theist does not agree. I don't think goodness exists without machines that compute what goodness is. Ergo, I believe goodness is a function of one's biological and evolutionary imprint and (cultural) evolution.

For instance, I can easily imagine an alien race that considers goodness killing every second baby alien they produce. And I would not know how to tell them that they are wrong.

Ciao

- viole