Ethics, aesthetics, and morals

by onacruse 36 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  myauntfanny

  Onacruse

  I always thought "survival of the fittest" was probably a mistaken notion, since "survival of the fit enough" seems more than adequate to explain a lot of species' survival. I also think the whole notion of "fittest" has been misunderstood. It seems obvious from looking at many species that it is not necessary to be the strongest and most aggressive to survive. Sometimes it's the sneakiest, most agile, best at camouflage, fastest reproducers, most patient, etc. A lesson we can all learn from in bad times. But that's really a tangent, isn't it?

  It almost sounds to me as if you are depressed that without a punitive god, the wicked prevail. But a lot of wicked people actually DO believe in a punitive god, and they are still wicked. If we could find an even better reason why people should be good, the wicked still wouldn't respect it. What can we do but think of them like bad weather, and try not to take it personally?
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  Cowboy

  It's the golden rule, my friend - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

  Which means to me; respect. As long as we (whether as individuals or as a society) can respect others - their rights, their beliefs, their property, and their person, we can (hopefully) expect them to do the same to us. If mutual respect is present, then we can expect order to prevail. When respect is lost (or was never there to begin with) then chaos is bound to follow.

  Some people (or groups of people) may respect certain rules or laws only because they fear the punishment that would (or could) result from violating them. Others (hopefully most people) respect because they know it's "the right thing to do" and because they desire the order that results from nutual respect.

  CB
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  Terry

  I subscribe to Objectivist reasoning on morals as outlined in Ayn Rand's THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS.

  Read here:http://www.objectivistcenter.org/objectivism/faqs/jraibley_faq-virtue-selfishness.asp
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  Wallflower

  Perhaps, 2 schools of thought:

  a) We are created. Hey, who gives a toss, it's all Gods fault.

  b) We evolved, over 100's of 1000's of years as a hominids and prior to that as some sub species. Whatever we were, it had a tight family unit, all members of that unit protecting each other and all members contributing otherwise it wouldn't have survived. The ones that failed to support would become extinct; no family and the genes end there. The ones that did fight for the family unit would produce young and would survive. Survival of the fittest. A natural selective breeding which supported the family unit, which is why modern man, the pinnacle of human evolution doesn't generally murder, rape and destroy for pleasure. But this is a generalisation. There will always be the odd 2% that think different and we are, no matter how superior we feel, the result of evolution from the animal kingdom.
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  frenchbabyface

  what amazed me somehow when I was a kid was that animals do have (lets say) there codes, it was i think one of the reason why I did believe in God as a child and yound adult.

  But now I don't think that it is related to any creator who would have put all those things in our concience (Farkel got the point here globaly to me).

  So I think that we are followers (we learn to coexist with others) and that we manage with the community we are living in and our position and evolution just like animals.

  Those who are breaking the rules are either : creative, mean, stupid, couragous, frustated, not ready, envious or jealous, needy, smart, selfish, altruist, whatever ... They are those who put something new in the equation of everybody's life on the what's next ... sometimes it helps sometimes it hurts and there is no real justice just a logique in the consequences but not always for the one who did wrong or right ...
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  frenchbabyface

  and the beauty of it all (when it come to win or loose) is that the big one not always win and the little one not always loose ... and the bad thing of it all is that we don't always get rid of the bad things and not always following the good things. And that's our irrational part and system (from the individual to a nation)
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  outoftheorg

  I THINK OUR ETHICS AND MORALS ARE THE RESULT OF SELF PRESERVATION AND FEAR.

  IN THIS THINKING THE PHRASE " DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO TO YOU" TAKES ON MUCH MORE THAN A RELIGIOUS STATEMENT.

  IT IS SIMPLY IN OUR BEST INTEREST, TO BE TREATED IN AN ENCOURAGING AND HELPFUL WAY WITH RESPECT.

  THIS THOUGHT WOULD GUIDE US TO LIVING LIFE AND SETTING UP STANDARDS FOR OURSELVES AND GETTING THE GROUP OR TRIBE TO ACCEPT AND GRASP THESE FOR THEIR OWN BEST INTEREST, WHILE SAFEGUARDING OUR OWN SELFISH INTEREST.

  I THINK IT IS TRIGGERED BY OUR OWN SELF INTERESTS, IF WE WE ARE NORMAL AND NOT PSYCHOPATHIC WE BELIEVE OUR STANDARDS WILL BE ADOPTED BY OTHERS.

  WHICH WILL SERVE OUR BEST INTERESTS.

  Outoftheorg