Do animals have a moral sense?
there are several possibilities:
1) they don't. morality is something only humans have.
2) they do. morality is something both animals and humans have.
3) neither humans nor animals have genuine morality.
4) animals do and humans don't.
choice 1 is often discussed in terms of morality being a unique characteristic of humans beings, often imposed by gods. are there ways that only humans have morality if gods are not involved?
choice 2 is a possibility if we consider that morality is an evolutionary response to social living. if so, social animals will display it in some proportion to some measure of sociality.
choice 3 is a possibility if we consider that genuine morality as defined is not something that humans typically exhibit. aspects that might be discussed include justifiactions for war, lying, and so on. can a species be considered moral if its behavior is not?
choice 4 is a possibility if we expand morality into areas that moral theorists usually don't. perhaps there are animals that are more highly moral than humans. cetaceans, maybe. how would we tell?
Do animals have a moral sense?
by mankkeli 1 Replies latest jw friends
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mankkeli
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thetrueone
I think some have advanced senses and emotions to members of their own species.
A recent study on elephants showed they do develop a close relationship to ones in their group.
Monkeys/ chimpanzees also show a close emotional attachment to their own tribal family.
Most animals have only one sense and that is to survive to live on and breed.