<p>do I believe my actions have an arbitrary basis?</p>
<p>to tell you the truth, my actions are indeed based upon arbitrary basis which ** **in turn were formed from transcendental ones as well as my judgmental logic. so, kinda like judgemental logic+transcendental one=arbitrary actions (of mine).</p>
<p>Slave morality: yes. Do I adhere to it: no.</p>
<p>It's more interesting to ask: Are there universal laws of morality?</p>
<p>like gravity?</p>
<p>username: not quite so...if you are particularly looking at it from the point of view of human beings! :D</p>
<p>There's no such things as "universality" (idk whether that's a word) exists. If it exists, it is out of luck, which resulted from a common interest..not necessarily as to adhere to such universal laws of something....</p>
<p>frankly though pyroclasm, i don't think most ppl care at all. i think most of them won't really ascribe their moral judgments to anything. probably only 1% have actively pondered the basis of their morality. the others just seem to pull out arbitrary morals out of the blue and act like their moral values mean everything to them</p>
<p>most humans don't care much about justification</p>
<p>Or maybe they have relied on others to get it right for them.</p>
<p>
[quote]
frankly though pyroclasm, i don't think most ppl care at all. i think most of them won't really ascribe their moral judgments to anything. probably only 1% have actively pondered the basis of their morality. the others just seem to pull out arbitrary morals out of the blue and act like their moral values mean everything to them</p>
<p>most humans don't care much about justification
[/quote]
</p>
<p>very true indeed....except..I'd rather change th 1% thing to more like 5-10%ish...coz, if u go to "senior citizens" (not just in the US)...u will see a different story...not w/ everyone obviously...</p>
<p>people who think their actions are morally correct, a lot of them base it on precedence (as qwilde said) knowingly or unknowingly.</p>
<p>i agree with richard dawkins. nobody else makes any frikkin sense</p>
<p>Gravity is the law. Law breakers will be brought down</p>
<p>
[quote]
Jaron Lanier: “There’s a large group of people who simply are uncomfortable with accepting evolution because it leads to what they perceive as a moral vacuum, in which their best impulses have no basis in nature.”</p>
<pre><code>Richard Dawkins: “All I can say is, That’s just tough. We have to face up to the truth.”
[/quote]
</code></pre>
<p>“Evolution: The dissent of Darwin,” Psychology Today, January/February 1997, p. 62.</p>
<p>Does anyone else find that at all hard to accept?</p>
<p>no...........</p>
<p>I mean, if you accept that, there's nothing inherently "wrong" with rape, murder, etc. Without a higher authority there's no such thing as an "ought."</p>
<p>interesting question for a college discussion board haha
But seriously, take a look at Thomas Aquinas, arguably the greatest philosoher ever, if you have a question on universal morality or natural law</p>
<p>^^ he had an impact, but his logic was often flawed (as in his "proofs"), and he doesn't provide much of a foundation for belief in a universal morality (or "natural law").</p>
<p>haven't most cultures cultivated the idea of love and selflessness? it's fundamental to religions across the charts. and love/selflessness is often the basis for making moral decisions.</p>
<p>to elaborate.. essentially i could say humans have evolved to perhaps help others to increase our overall chances of survival (evidence in research). society would have then evolved and advanced on a "moral foundation" such as helping each other.</p>
<p>The 10 commandments come to mind as a good rule of thumb.</p>
<p>Anything where you don't harm your neighbor is the goal. there are of course gray areas at times, which makes it more difficult and complex. </p>
<p>I think you just have to do the best you can trying to lessen harm to your neighbor as much as possible in those gray areas, where you have 2 competing situations and it's hard to figure out what to do. But typically these gray areas don't arise that often, fortunately.</p>
<p>Oh, and evolution got pulled in, I see. With regards to evolution, I believe in divinely inspired evolution, intelligently designed evolution.</p>