If there is no god of any kind where do we (mankind) ascertain a means of objective morality and intrinsic value of human life?
If there is no god of any kind where do we (mankind) ascertain a means of objective morality and intrinsic value of human life?
If we create our own value then what if the value of others is at the expense of some other group of people. Where do we draw the line?
I've concluded the only way I can identify myself as being in any form godless is to find an answer to my op outside of any known deity. I cannot. The closest I have come is the mear history of man yet even in that I have found the presance of a god.
You've jumped to a forgone conclusion that mankind needs some sort of objective morality. Human history (and behavior) seems to demonstrate to me that morality is completely subjective, so I would say there is no need for mankind to ascertain any means of objective morality. We're managing quite well without any.
Human beings (I assume all sentient beings) have a concept of good and experience something to the effect of happiness. This may seem to be subjective, but the process of your experiencing happiness is a physically real process (as are all things in your brain) and so in that sense it is objective. What's more, human beings are far more similar than they are different, and presumably other human beings have this capacity, too.
From this we may not get an absolute morality, but we can get an objective one in so far as we communicate and we can perceive emotion, and have influence on each other. Empathy is the closest thing to an objective morality.
I think this is actually what we have (i.e. morality though a democratic lense). There is enough common human experience that we generally have a shared sense of what is morally correct. And yes, the minority is no more right or wrong (at least, not according to the minority). When the minority has the power to enforce their subjective viewpoint, they often do just that, and the rest of the world (a.k.a. the majority) terms these acts (which are immoral from the majority's viewpoint) "atrocities carried out by mad men".We can then look at morality as subjective through a democratic lenses. The good of the majority is good and the evil as defined by the majority is evil. Then what of the minority? Technically their view point is no more wrong or right there just happens to be less of them. Then where is true morality? I think that leads to nihilism. That would be the only conclusion I can draw.
[MENTION=19503]Comeback Girl[/MENTION] I feel to ground morals in evolution is irresponsible at this point. If we were to think of it this way we’d have a very Machiavellian sense of morality. Evil deeds are justified in times of scarcity or for the purpose of self-preservation.
If you think of it the other way, if morality was truly objective and not subjective, atrocities would be relatively rare. You would have to be a pyschopath/sociopath to not subscribe to the "objective truth". You would not get large groups sharing the same non-objective viewpoints. It would be almost impossible for a majority to form that felt that genocide or slavery is acceptable if there is an objective truth that such acts are immoral. But history shows us that many societies have formed that considered such acts moral. Furthermore, those very same societies later on change their view and deem these same acts are immoral. How can that happen if morality is objective? I say it can't. It can only happen if morality is subjective.
No, without morals people would even be evil in times without any type of scarcity. People would just want more and more and more and kill everyone who has something they'd like to have, maybe they'll also kill some people because they don't like them, or maybe they'll kill random people just for fun and before you know it, everybody has killed everybody and human life will be extinct. You're welcome.
Finding your own value is much more difficult. The first part is to accept that there is (probably) no value to anything in itself. Then find what you love. Focus on it, and value it. Build your life upon it.
If there is no god of any kind where do we (mankind) ascertain a means of objective morality and intrinsic value of human life?
If there is no god of any kind where do we (mankind) ascertain a means of objective morality and intrinsic value of human life?
If there is no god of any kind where do we (mankind) ascertain a means of objective morality and intrinsic value of human life?