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I’m not educated in philosophy, except my interest in natural philosophy, so I may be completely confused here. My sense is that morals are based on values tha

I’m not educated in philosophy, except my interest in natural philosophy, so I may be completely confused here. My sense is that morals are based on values that were instilled in humans in the evolutionary milieu. Half a million years of living as bands of Hunter gatherers. But these values are not completely consistent. For example, we think that stealing from others is wrong, but we also think that not sharing is wrong. These are rules of thumb that evolved in Hunter gatherer societies. So we have inconsistent values, and which values are most preeminent differ depending on what society we are in. On top of this are sex roles and sexual morality that were developed because of the needs of agricultural societies, which were very different than what was needed to survive as Hunter gatherers. So there are a wide variety of moralities that individuals can settle on as they try to make sense of all these contradictory impulses.

MisterBastahrd 3y ago
I don't believe morals have much to do with an inheritance of values, mostly because mankind, from civilization to civilization, has largely kept the same set of basic morality regardless of where they are or what religion they possess. Sure, some things change, but theft, murder, lying, etc... they're pretty universally seen as wrong. And in the instances where they AREN'T seen as inherently wrong, it's usually a class-based stance that still sets them apart. Even if you steal from other groups, don't steal from OUR group. Even if you wiped away all knowledge but the very basics on survival, these would come back in short order as societal hierarchies are redeveloped.
- JPws_Prntr_Fngr 3y ago
  > mankind, from civilization to civilization, has largely kept the same set of basic morality regardless of where they are or what religion they possess > murder ... pretty universally seen as wrong I have no idea how you could be even passingly familiar with societies like the Mongols or Aztecs and believe this to be true.
  - MisterBastahrd 3y ago
    Religions require people to do stupid and harmful things all the time. They are extant to proper morality. People weren't just wandering around those societies and murdering other people in the same group without justification or punishment.
    - pixl97 3y ago
      It's interestingly how you silently show that 'group' classification of humans allows any person to do any action they want to another person as long as they can find a means of putting them in a particular group.
      - MisterBastahrd 3y ago
        I didn't "silently" do shit. I explicitly pointed it out because it's been a part of human history since humans had a history. Declaring something exists is not the same as justifying that they've done it. We have Memorial Day to honor people who died to go overseas and kill people, and Veterans Day to honor the people who didn't die to go overseas and kill people. Would I consider that to be a gap in morality? Sure, but it exists AND it's not specific to the United States either.
    - JPws_Prntr_Fngr 3y ago
      [flagged]

MisterBastahrd 3y ago

I don't believe morals have much to do with an inheritance of values, mostly because mankind, from civilization to civilization, has largely kept the same set of basic morality regardless of where they are or what religion they possess. Sure, some things change, but theft, murder, lying, etc... they're pretty universally seen as wrong. And in the instances where they AREN'T seen as inherently wrong, it's usually a class-based stance that still sets them apart. Even if you steal from other groups, don't steal from OUR group. Even if you wiped away all knowledge but the very basics on survival, these would come back in short order as societal hierarchies are redeveloped.

JPws_Prntr_Fngr 3y ago
> mankind, from civilization to civilization, has largely kept the same set of basic morality regardless of where they are or what religion they possess > murder ... pretty universally seen as wrong I have no idea how you could be even passingly familiar with societies like the Mongols or Aztecs and believe this to be true.
- MisterBastahrd 3y ago
  Religions require people to do stupid and harmful things all the time. They are extant to proper morality. People weren't just wandering around those societies and murdering other people in the same group without justification or punishment.
  - pixl97 3y ago
    It's interestingly how you silently show that 'group' classification of humans allows any person to do any action they want to another person as long as they can find a means of putting them in a particular group.
    - MisterBastahrd 3y ago
      I didn't "silently" do shit. I explicitly pointed it out because it's been a part of human history since humans had a history. Declaring something exists is not the same as justifying that they've done it. We have Memorial Day to honor people who died to go overseas and kill people, and Veterans Day to honor the people who didn't die to go overseas and kill people. Would I consider that to be a gap in morality? Sure, but it exists AND it's not specific to the United States either.
  - JPws_Prntr_Fngr 3y ago
    [flagged]