Moral Ontology

[quatona]

For some, its grounded in Heart.

.

They probably like "Heart", whatever that may be in your terminology.

 

[Elioenai26]

Reality provides a ground for what is. What is, is, whether anyone knows of it or believes in it.

Nothing provides an equivalent ground for what ought. What ought, only has meaning to subjects. Reality does not care.



Morality is an idea. It comes out of our heads.

I think you misunderstand what I am saying.

In your last statement, you say morality comes out of our heads. Ok, but what is the explanation for our concept of moral values and duties?

 

[Elioenai26]

And well-being is a need for us.

What is well-being? Why do we see it as being necessary?

My observations suggests that we create our values. Since we share a lot of basic needs (and besides that have our individual needs) I am not at all surprised to see that many or even most humans arrive at some similar values while disagreeing on others.

But where do we get the idea that some values are "good" and some are "bad"? That is what I am asking. Where do we get this concept of morality from? Evolution?

 

[quatona]

What is well-being? Why do we see it as being necessary?

We experience it as necessary. Moral concepts and rationalizations come after the fact.

But where do we get the idea that some values are "good" and some are "bad"?

I don´t know where you get this idea.
It isn´t my idea.

Where do we get this concept of morality from?

From abstracting from our needs, desires etc. Something desirable, pleasurable, something that adds to our well-being is "good". That´s almost tautological.
You could as well ask why good is positive.

Evolution?

I suspect that evolution surely played a part in humans developing the facility to make abstractions.

All this "where do we [...] get from?" sounds funny to me.
Is there a substantial difference between the questions "Where do we get toes from?" (or e.g. "where does the need of plants for water come from?") and "Where do we get our brain/ our concepts from?" when you ask this stuff, or is there something specific about the brain and the concepts it produces that prompts you to ask for an explanation for the latter but not the first?

What also strikes me as ironic is the fact that you are asking very detailed questions concerning everybody´s explanations of the process, when on the other hand you yourself are completely satisfied with an unsupported exceptional claim that doesn´t explain anything at all.

 

[quatona]

What is well-being?

Well-being is when you are well. Not familiar with this state?

 

[essentialsaltes]

In your last statement, you say morality comes out of our heads. Ok, but what is the explanation for our concept of moral values and duties?

I dunno. Is there an explanation for our concept of unicorns or zombies or beauty or rhyme or spherical geometry? They are thinks that we thought.

 

[Asvin]

I am claiming that our concept of morality has an explanation for its existence.

My question is, what is this explanation?

Do you understand the question?

CONCEPTS are created by the human mind. I don't know how many times I have to repeat that for you to get it! The CONCEPT of morality is a product of the human mind and does not need any grounding!

 

[Eudaimonist]

I see. So differences in what one considers to be conducive to well being aside, you would say that our concept of morality and what is good and evil revolves ultimately around what is conducive to human flourishing (well-being), and what is not conducive to human flourishing (well-being). The good and right being that which is conducive and the evil and wrong being what is not conducive.

Does that sum it up?

If "not conducive" implies that flourishing is impeded, then that's a fair statement.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Eudaimonist]

But is that "morality"?

No, it is what justifies a morality.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Ripheus27]

Perhaps the categories of deontic logic just exist in the same way that the categories of modal logic just exist?

EDIT: In other words, perhaps objective morality is a Quinean brute fact...

 

[Tiberius]

How is morality grounded?

What is the most plausible explanation for the existence of morality?

This thread is going to be geared towards moral ontology not epistemology. Here we are not concerned about how we come to know what right and wrong is, but rather, what is its grounding or what is its explanation for its existence.

The most plausible explanation?

Our behaviour is controlled to a fairly significant degree by our genes. As social creatures, we need to be able to exist in a group of others.

It follows that any individual that had genes that manifested in behaviour that made it difficult for the group to function (such as killing others) would not last long in that group. And any individual that had genes that made it easier for the individual to function in the society would last longer.

So we are the result of evolution following the natural pressure that drove us towards being able to function in a social structure.