Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Morality is a primitive emotion without need for a higher power.

A new study mentioned in Science Daily shows that morality might arise from rather primitive brain functions.

The importance of this find cannot be understated for the simple fact that some philosophers and theologians have contended for centuries that morality comes from some higher source.

I've been in arguments with people who argued that morality couldn't exist without some higher authority, viz., God. I always found that position weak and opted for the more parsimonious view, viz., morality is innate.

The argument goes that without God, one can't be moral with the implication that atheists and agnostics lack morality.

I call bullshit on that view because the facts show otherwise. Furthermore, is it moral to be scared into doing right or doing right because it's the right thing to do? I think the latter is the higher morality, while the former is the view of the religious moralists.

Many of the atheists and agnostics I know have a better grip on morality than a lot of the religious folks running around.

Interesting study that scores another point for secular humanism.

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