Lama_adventuures t1_iujjdhe wrote
Reply to comment by 420rolex in What is morality in the absence of religion? by mambosun_
I'm curious if morality exists apart from mankind inventing it; for example, would murder potentially be considered acceptable? I mean, there's something innate in humans that instantly perceives certain things or actions as immoral when they hear about them.
That cannot be merely humanly conceived, religion or no religion.
raz0rflea t1_iujl4ir wrote
Murder is definitely acceptable to some people in some circumstances - I would have no moral issue killing a stranger if it's the only way to stop them from killing someone I love.
I understand not everyone has that same viewpoint, but these are decisions we make as people, it's not like there's a quantifiable objective truth when it comes to morality.
SteamboatMcGee t1_iujm6v8 wrote
But we do often consider murder acceptable already. A lot of soldiers in wartime are religious, for instance, and the death penalty is not the sole work of athiests.
Top-Royal6249 t1_iujkn8v wrote
It's not that mankind "invents" it, as if everyone gathers around a table and talks out what is moral and what isn't, it's that we evolved as social/tribal animals, whereby empathy was evolutionarily advantageous, which is why most of us have an aversion to things like murdering people, hurting others, etc. We see senses of empathy/"morality" even in lab mice.
Yes, it is conceivable/possible that humanity could continue to evolve, and somehow lose our social/tribal instincts, thus no longer naturally find murder to be wrong to do, but I would highly doubt that would ever happen.
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