More on the nature of morality
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaylenwoof
In other words, I'm suggesting that there are natural right/wrong answers to many of our most fundamental moral questions (or at least there is no logical reason that there couldn't be natural answers).
And, just to add one more thought: Even if there is a God, it might still be the case that God requires us to use our human capacities for reason, observation, and compassion in order to find the naturalistic foundations for morality. Simplistic statements like "Thou shalt not kill" or "Thou shalt not lie" have proven to be inadequate for realistically living in complex human societies. Our understanding of morality needs to run much deeper than any list of proclamations found in any holy book, but to gain this deeper understanding we need to rely to some extend on reason, observation, and compassion. The bottom line is that we need to rely on these things with or without the existence of guidelines found in holy books, so a traditional theistic conception of God is not logically necessary for humans to understand and exercise moral judgment.
And, just to add one more thought: Even if there is a God, it might still be the case that God requires us to use our human capacities for reason, observation, and compassion in order to find the naturalistic foundations for morality. Simplistic statements like "Thou shalt not kill" or "Thou shalt not lie" have proven to be inadequate for realistically living in complex human societies. Our understanding of morality needs to run much deeper than any list of proclamations found in any holy book, but to gain this deeper understanding we need to rely to some extend on reason, observation, and compassion. The bottom line is that we need to rely on these things with or without the existence of guidelines found in holy books, so a traditional theistic conception of God is not logically necessary for humans to understand and exercise moral judgment.
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