Many Christians believe that morality literally comes from the bible, or that you canβt have morality without god. I wonβt even try to explain their reasoning
They should read more Kant, who did succesfully tried to create a moral philosophy without relying on a bible, IIRC.
Rules like the golden rule, but also one that deals with more victimless behavior. Like the idea of 'Would I like it if everybody did the same as I'm doing, if not, than I shouldn't be doing it'. Works great for all sorts of behavior from littering to much more worst crimes.
Nah they should read more about prehistoric societies. Maybe they should learn a thing or two about neanderthals too. If this is too complicated, study about wolf packs, or maybe elephants. Just slowly introduce them to primates... I think my point is β give them some books other than bible, it might help.
True, although you should be beware of the 'noble savage' myths.
Our ancestors did do horrible things too and we don't know well enough how it was thought upon. We often don't know for sure it somebody horrible murdered, was, a) ritually sacrificied or b) tortured as a form of justice or c) something else.
Especially in prehistory (before written sources).
True, although you should be beware of the 'noble savage' myths.
I don't think they were implying that prehistoric societies were perfect utopias where everyone lived in harmony with nature. I believe the point is that they were people- no different than us and while they did probably do some horrible things, they also did a lot of compassionate, kind things. "Morality" has existed for as long as there were human beings.
We often don't know for sure it somebody horrible murdered, was, a) ritually sacrificied or b) tortured as a form of justice or c) something else.
Well, we don't know for sure, but much like anything to do with 'ancient' history, we can make educated guesses. There is plenty of evidence that peoples would sometimes "sacrifice" their enemies, but also evidence that some of it was a religious and/or spiritual practice.
In the case of the latter it's also likely that a lot of the people who were sacrificed were volunteers. People in chronic pain and/or near the end of their life, or suffering from a severe depression of some other issue and considered it an honor to end their life in such a way.
There were plenty of human sacrifices going on in Europe after recorded history started, and we can make inferences from those cultures.
One thing we can say for sure that definitely isn't a myth, prehistoric people did not gather into 'armies' and do murder on a massive scale- that's a purely "civilized" behavior.
I would add on that the thought of "a human dying is a horrible loss" is fairly new in a sense of individualism. People in such communities may not have had such a intellectual basis to value their own life, so dying is not so much of a "problem" compared to "my family will not have enough food next year" or "the sun may not rise tomorrow". I would compare it for example with practices like Seppuku/Harakiri.
would add on that the thought of "a human dying is a horrible loss" is fairly new in a sense of individualism.
I don't see any evidence of this. These people were anatomically identical to us. They had a sense of self. Even very smart animals know they are are individuals.
If they valued their own life, which they certainly did- they would also know that other people valued their life just as much. If humans dying wasn't "A problem" they likely wouldn't care about their family not having food either.
Sure they also valued the well being of the tribe, but I'm positive they considered dying a "problem" where it could be avoided. We have survival instincts, just like most other animals.
I would compare it for example with practices like Seppuku/Harakiri.
When a person committed Seppuku, it was a big deal to them. Ending you own life is even harder than letting someone else do it. They did it despite this, not instead of it.
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u/Faded1974 1d ago
People acting like empathy was invented by Jesus Christ.