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Atheist Morality
Information
The purpose of this group is to discuss morality from all points of view: biological, evolutionary, philosophical. Specific moral questions are encouraged: if you have a moral question for us atheists, feel free to post it here.
Location: #philosophy
Members: 90
Latest Activity: yesterday
Do atheists have morals?
We atheists are pretty tired of hearing that without religion, there would be no morality. It is offensive to us atheists, since this implies we cannot possibly be moral, or if we are in fact, moral, it is because we were raised in a culture in which morality was initially acquired, and still perpetuated, by religion.
While it is indeed possible that some people may need religion in order to be moral, this is a scary thought: their morality has not been reasoned or felt in their gut, it was "ordered" from above.
Human beings have had moral laws and codes for thousands and thousands of years before religion was ever invented, at least in an organized form. Human beings around the globe, from many religious backgrounds, have pretty much the same basic set of rules, starting with the Golden Rule. Why? Because our moral sense comes from the evolution of our brains and the need to live as a social species, avoiding conflict and increasing cooperation. Our moral sense is based on our emotions: it feels good to help others, and it feels bad to harm others.
The scientific study of human nature has naturally lead to the scientific study of human morality. A good start if you're new to this fascinating and important subject is The New Science of Morality, from Edge.org.
Useful links or articles:
The Moral Instinct- great long article in the NYT by Steven Pinker
The communication of emotions and the possibility of empathy in animals, by Stephanie Preston and Frans de Waal (book chapter)
Preston_deWaal2002chapter.pdf
The Normative Insignificance of Neuroscience- Scholarly article by Harvard philosopher Selim Berker (hat tip to Julia Galef) who argues that we can never derive normative implications from neural facts about how we reach moral decisions. Opposite point of view to Peter Singer and Joshua Greene. Not sure I agree completely but it's good to challenge ourselves with opposing views in any field.
berker_norminsignifneuro_Final.pdf
Moral psychology: The depths of disgust
Is there wisdom to be found in repugnance? Or is disgust 'the nastiest of all emotions', offering nothing but support to prejudice? Dan Jones looks at the repellent side of human nature.
Howandwheredoesmoraljudgmentwork.pdf
Recent evidence suggests that moral judgment is more a matter of emotion and affective intuition than deliberate reasoning. Psychology and cognitive neuroscience studies point to the importance of affect, although reasoning can play a restricted but significant role in moral judgment. A preliminary account of the functional neuroanatomy of moral judgment is presented, according to which many brain areas make important contributions to moral judgment although none is devoted specifically to it.
We will be adding recurrent threads that people keep adding new material to, for reference or because the subject is a tidbit that does not warrant its own separate discussion:
The Moral Treasure Chest
Moral Dilemmas- this is a thread for moral dilemmas (a part of applied ethics), feel free to post your favorite moral dilemma, real of made up, and what you would do and why (coming up soon).
Online tests: These are academic tests designed to probe our moral sense, moral cognition, and what drives our moral decisions and judgments. They are fun, they will tell you a lot about yourself, and you'll be helping researchers add to their current data.
YourMorals.org (Jonathan Haidt's group and collaborators).
The Moral Sense Test (Joshua Greene-Harvard University)
Discussion Forum
What Isn’t for Sale?
Started by Dallas the Phallus. Last reply by Onyango Makagutu Apr 30. 3 Replies 0 Likes
What Isn’t for Sale?Market thinking so permeates our lives that we barely notice it anymore. A leading philosopher sums up the hidden costs of a price-tag society.THERE ARE SOME THINGS money can’t buy—but these days, not many. Almost everything is…Continue
Tags: ethics, free-market capitalism, morals, economy, capitalism
The 'Truth' About Why We Lie, Cheat And Steal
Started by Dallas the Phallus Apr 21. 0 Replies 0 Likes
Chances are, you're a liar. Maybe not a big liar — but a liar nonetheless. That's the finding of Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. He's run experiments with some 30,000 people and found that very few…Continue
Tags: ethics, morality, psychology, Ariely, honesty
The empathy machine
Started by Dallas the Phallus Apr 20. 0 Replies 0 Likes
The empathy machine Sherlock was right – new research shows that seeing through another's eyes takes a detached mind not just a warm heartWhat’s the first thing you think of when you hear the name Sherlock Holmes? It might be a deerstalker, a pipe…Continue
Tags: autism, morality, feeling, Sherlock Holmes, creativity
The Moral Treasure Chest
Started by Adriana. Last reply by Dallas the Phallus Apr 9. 87 Replies 0 Likes
This discussion is for all the great links, pdfs, videos, or general…Continue
Tags: reports, ethics, studies, videos, philosophy
Simon Blackburn and Moral Quasi-Realism
Started by Adriana. Last reply by Adriana Apr 7. 5 Replies 0 Likes
I've been thinking hard about how I would describe my moral position, from a philosophical point of view. Since I do not agree with moral relativism or with moral absolutism (perhaps better called "moral realism"), I think I found a position that…Continue
Tags: philosophy, humanism, moral, quasi-realism, Simon Blackburn
How mood influences moral decisions
Started by Adriana. Last reply by Neal Mar 12. 2 Replies 0 Likes
Here's a great blog post in Scientific American: "How Your Moral Decisions are Shaped by a Bad Mood"…Continue
Tags: cognition, emotions, decisions, psychology, morality
Babies help unlock the origins of morality - From 60 Minutes
Started by doone. Last reply by Adriana Jan 25. 10 Replies 0 Likes
Babies help unlock the origins of morality Watch the Segment »Can infants tell right from wrong? And if so, how would you know? Come to Yale's baby lab. Lesley Stahl reports.Web Extras…Continue
Want the shortest path to the good life? Try cynicism
Started by doone. Last reply by doone Nov 18, 2012. 22 Replies 1 Like
Want the shortest path to the good life? Try cynicism…Continue
Comment Wall
Comment
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Comment by doone yesterday -
THE MORAL STATUS OF ROCKS
Justin E. H. Smith in his blog:
A student in rural Iceland, of sheep-farming stock, had her guard down, or didn't yet have a guard. She didn't know how to talk to foreigners, or perhaps felt there was something she had to get across to foreigners, or to this foreigner, who showed an interest in her country. She said, in the hope of conveying to me the whole ethical-spiritual outlook of her country in a single concrete example: In Iceland we are taught not to smash rocks.
In recent years something called 'environmental ethics' is moving into the mainstream, finding space alongside the Kantian, the utilitarian, and so on, which for their part suppose that an ethical relation can only be had toward an ethical subject, and that such subjects are found only among human or at most animal beings. Even environmental ethics tends to imagine the environment with a thick arboreal canopy, with lush grass, and lillypads covering seething green ponds. But in the Arctic and sub-Arctic the 'environment' is mostly a geological rather than a biological phenomenon, and it is not altogether surprising that in such a setting rocks come forward as phenomenally salient, as creatures, as others, more readily than in the Amazon. And still less do the rocks come forward as our petrous co-beings in the big cities of the world, where they only appear ground down and formed into angular artifacts of human ingenuity, which in turn you are not supposed to smash, since in the process of their transformation they have become 'property'.
More here.
Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 12:08 PM | Permalink |
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Comment by doone on Tuesday
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Atheists like children
Mali the orangutan is a new mom! New pictures of Mali and her baby were released by the Paignton Zoo.
I’ve zoomed in on the baby in every picture because LOOK AT THAT FACE.
You’re welcome.
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Comment by Chris on Monday -
Religions where being human is a sin set their subjects up to fail so they can come in and rescue them from their human frailties.
It's disgusting.
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Comment by Neal on Monday -
I would go even farther and say religion has perverted morality. Changed what was good into something used for control.
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Comment by doone on Sunday
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If being moral is so easy, can we dispense with religion altogether? . . . READ »
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Comment by doone on April 30, 2013 at 6:44pm
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Comment by Neal on April 25, 2013 at 11:23am
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#21 pretty much sums it up. =)
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Comment by doone on April 24, 2013 at 6:48pm
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Submitted by: Unknown
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Comment by doone on April 22, 2013 at 8:45am
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Which friendship is the best friendship?
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Comment by doone on March 22, 2013 at 10:20pm
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