Posted on 05/04/2014 12:34:25 PM PDT by Olog-hai
“...morality is a system for homo sapiens to live with each other.”
What’s morality?
Cute.
Let's just say you'll find very little of it in the Old Testament.
I challenge atheists to explain consciousness.
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I challenge you to explain it. Can you do so without saying “God willed it to be so”? Because, that’s not an explanation. That’s just substituting one unknowable for another.
For the record, not an atheist. Just another wishy washy agnostic.
” I don’t want you to steal from me so I won’t steal from you.”
Kind of like do unto others what you would have others do unto you?
Maybe there should be a set of commandments that includes do not steal? That might be a good idea.
What if not stealing from someone else has zero effect on them not stealing from you?
That's the point.
But mine exists. I'm not sure about yours.
Science has no idea what consciousness is either. Quantum physics touches it, but doesn't even attempt to examine it.
Are you arrogant enough to believe that your consciousness is the highest degree of consciousness in the universe?
7.62X39
Not cute. A real question you can’t answer.
Your answer was cute, but completely dissonant with respect to the arguments by atheists on this thread.
I try to give you the benefit of the doubt and ask questions on your comments, expecting you will be able to provide the thought behind your views.
But you don’t want to or can’t express your views intellectually.
I figured.
I’m getting the distinct impression atheists, or at least the ones on this thread, are intellectually challenged.
Morality is a system for homo sapiens to live with one another.
That's my general definition. What's yours?
Really, from the guy who said this?
Kind of like do unto others what you would have others do unto you?
Let me guess; you weren't aware that the "Golden Rule" predates Christianity.
Slavery is a “system for homo sapiens to live with one another” is slavery morality?
Your definition allows morality to be slavery, fascism, communism, feudalism or any number of infinite variations systems humans have lived under.
Absolutely not. You asked for a general definition.
Morality is system for homo sapiens to live with one another. If you believe that a universe where all sentient beings live under the worse suffering possible all of the time is not desirable to those beings, then it doesn't take much to come to the conclusions that a moral system is one where people must seek to minimize or eliminate pain and suffering as much as possible. The system of morality also must be double blind, as if you were to agree to slavery, you wouldn't know whether you're the slave or the slave master.
There's an objective system for doing that, and most of it is self-evident.
Stealing and murder cause pain and suffering.
It's up to us to figure it out.
What's your definition of morality?
I have no idea what consciousness is.
That’s the point.
But mine exists. I’m not sure about yours.
Science has no idea what consciousness is either. Quantum physics touches it, but doesn’t even attempt to examine it.
Are you arrogant enough to believe that your consciousness is the highest degree of consciousness in the universe?
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So you’re not just challenging atheists on the nature of consciousness, you’re challenging every belief system known to man about the nature of consciousness.
I think you might be a solipsist.
And, it would be against the rules for a philosophy major (10s of thousands of years ago) such as myself to not state the following: the philosopher of science can tell you exactly what consciousness is; it is the electrochemical activity in your brain.
Your assumptions are foolish.
Golden rule and variations that predate the NT are all religious based.
In other words, there is a trend I see here which is that the morality espoused by atheists is always the same as something all ready existing that came from a very old religious position.
The obtuseness is hilarious.
Religion was man's first crack at philosophy. So any sort of moral philosophy prior to modern science is likely to fall under some sort of religion. You don't get a Nobel Prize for figuring that out.
You're missing the obvious point here, which is that the Golden Rule seems to have some sort of corollary in all cultures worldwide, which speaks to it being ingrained in humanity, not dictated from whatever imaginary gods or goddesses. Also, calling Buddhism and Confucianism "religion" is a stretch.
How do you define morality?
I feel no need to redefine morality and am happy with established definitions, eg:
: beliefs about what is right behavior and what is wrong behavior
: the degree to which something is right and good : the moral goodness or badness of something
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morality
You don’t know anything about Buddhism, an incredibly pantheistic and superstitious religion.
You are saying morality is instinctual and evolved.
Talk about imaginary beliefs.
I do like that you have tried to step up your discourse a bit by moving in to the sociobiological.
Do you even have an argument, or are you just gesticulating?
I gave you a basis for morality, and how it appears to be innate, using pithy justifications.
Snark doesn't qualify as a response.
But how do you define right and good, vs. badness?
The lack of morality among all mammalian species indicates it is not instinctive or innate.
Unless you are claiming morality has been universally practices in all human culture.
You argue like a creationist or other know nothing dolt. Make a blanket, unsupported statement, claiming something that is obviously absurd on the face of it, then think it must be disproven rather than you making your case for it.
Look up reciprocal altruism for some ideas along the lines of morality in humans from a biological perspective. It’s still a far cry from instinctive.
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