From: Martin Striz (mstriz@gmail.com)
Date: Thu Jul 14 2005 - 08:24:56 MDT
On 7/14/05, Martin Striz <mstriz@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 7/14/05, Robin Lee Powell <rlpowell@digitalkingdom.org> wrote:
> > Looking around me, I see substantial evidence that if there is *any*
> > universal morality, it is only "nature red in tooth and claw"
> > natural selection.
>
> Even then selfishness is not the only solution that nature has come up
> with, although it is the most popular one. There are myriad
> combinations of altruism and selfishness, and looking at detailed
> behaviors, there are billions of "right" things to do. Evolutionary
> agents will test the behavior space as a subset of the fitness
> landscape, and there's no universal or "objective" solution.
>
I should add one note, which is that humans, with their relatively
high intelligence, have "evolved freedom" as Dennett puts it, and can
make a wide range of moral choices (as can be evidenced in any
comparison of social mores or philosophical positions). We've
systematically expanded our moral circle beyond the moral imperatives
of our genes. A being that makes moral choices other than the ones it
starts out being hardwird/programmed with: that's something to watch
out for.
M
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