Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
But we evolved from sponges. Do sponges have morality?
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Somewhere along the line, probably when we diverged from our common ancestor, morality became part of the genetic package. Monkeys, lesser primates, and chimpanzees/bonobos/gorillas all exhibit signs of pure morality without any reciprocal advantage being given.
As stated, by another poster, Dawkins has taken a crack at this. As going with the selfish gene thesis, he believes that almost all morality/altruism is self-interested to some extent. That is, there is some future reciprocal advantage to be gained. Like vampire bats sharing blood with those who were not successful in acquiring a meal in the knowledge that the group will take care of their needs when they did not acquire blood.
It makes sense for a lot of things. It doesn't cover a lot of morality, however. What about people who run into burning buildings to save a stranger? We tend not to do things that cause total strangers undeserved pain, at least in a personal setting.
As for God, of course He isn't explicitly part of this moral structure. However, I do see the Moral Law and I believe that for me, it's personal evidence of a kind for me.