This topic is often raised about morality.
Usually, this issue distills to two camps.
- Morals are objectively created by a standard outside of humanity – usually defined as a god. Such morals are immutable. An specific actions is either always right or wrong.
- Morals are created by human culture as a natural offspring of natural selection. Social mammals must practice altruism and reciprocity to survive and thrive as a culture/society.
My position is that of a secular humanist: “Secular humanism takes the positive stance that morality is not dependent on religion or theology, and that ethical rules should be developed based on reason, science, experience, debate, and democracy.”
Questions:
- If morality is given to us externally by a god, how do humans determine what this god wants in terms of human morality.
- If the answer is “The Bible,” how do we account for the parts where God (Yahweh) encourages his people to kill little boys or condones buying, owning, beating and inheriting of slaves?
- If morality is relative to a society, how do we determine what is right or wrong through observation of reality? Who decides what is moral?
- Why do moral codes differ among societies? Did the gods have disagreements?
- Why do moral codes have many similarities among societies? Maybe a god did provide it?
- If there had never been any god beliefs or holy texts, how would our current state of morality differ?
How do you personally determine your moral code?
If you are a Christian, what do you do when you find a moral precept in the Bible of which you disagree?
Socrates the Cat
Article URL : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthyphro_dilemma#In_philosophical_atheism