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What is morality/good/evil to an atheist?

essentialsaltes

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I want to know what they believe to be the origin of their morality

My own particular subjective sense of morality is a product of my history, my experiences, my reading, and whatever instinctual biases I may retain.

The question of 'why do people have a sense of morality at all', I think is answered by evolutionary psychology. Any social species of some intelligence will come to have a moral sense, so that prosocial actions can be promoted, and antisocial actions can be punished.
 
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bhsmte

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My own particular subjective sense of morality is a product of my history, my experiences, my reading, and whatever instinctual biases I may retain.

The question of 'why do people have a sense of morality at all', I think is answered by evolutionary psychology. Any social species of some intelligence will come to have a moral sense, so that prosocial actions can be promoted, and antisocial actions can be punished.

Nailed it!
 
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Eudaimonist

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BOOBS AND BEER!

That's atheist morality.

(The lucky punks.)

I was thinking red wine and heart-shaped derriere. But that's just me.


eudaimonia,

Mark
 
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Cearbhall

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Well? Feel free to define them as you wish.
Things that are morally good are things that are pleasing to humans, essentially, with a careful balance of individual rights and long-term solutions.

Obviously, many atheists would balk at my personal definition.
 
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durangodawood

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Things that are morally good are things that are pleasing to humans, essentially, with a careful balance of individual rights and long-term solutions.

Obviously, many atheists would balk at my personal definition.
Actually, thats a pretty good definition.

Generally, morals emerge because the wise know they are conducive to satisfactory human lives.
 
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KCfromNC

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Morality is what a member of a species calls what an outside observer merely calls behavior of that species.

As members of social species, we argue about whether it is objective or subjective as if we could resist our breeding. Those that did not pick up the desired traits and fail to fake it are often punished.

And those that get really good at faking it in public despite their behavior in private get to become our leaders. Quite the conundrum...
 
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Gottservant

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I think this is another OP that assumes; all atheists are the same, think the same and obviously have the same morality.

You would think we could get past this by now, but I guess not.

What's so wrong with assuming that a common opposition is expressed commonly in the common example of that commonality?

I thought the question was beautifully open ended.

You don't understand the meaning of conversation any more, now that you're an atheist? Seriously?
 
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I want to know what they believe to be the origin of their morality

I see a sort of layered approach to this.

On one level, we mostly deal with morality in terms of impulses; some things just seem right and wrong to us, with no real need to put much thought into it. Some of this, I think, is natural. We're social animals, so we've evolved with certain instinctual impulses that help us survive as a species. We can see some of this in the way other animals behave (exhibiting altruism, concern for fairness and reciprocity, concern for the well-being of others of the same kind - especially those familiar to us).

Added to that, we have societal norms that are ingrained into us from a young age. These norms are intended to keep peace and allow the society to function and expand, although they don't always work.

Most people seem to only approach morality by allowing themselves to be guided by these impulses, the natural ones they instinctively feel and the ones that reflect the values of the society they've been raised in. And for the most part, that works without ever needing to think about it too much. The problem is that everyone, to some extent or another, will have these impulses overridden by some other desire at some point or another. Usually it won't be anything major, but it happens to all of us. And we also will at some point or another get the feeling that some things that we impulsively think are moral or immoral might not actually be. But what can that mean if nature and society are what dictate our morals?

This is where the philosophical practice of ethics comes in. We try to address these discrepancies by nailing down what it is that makes something "good" or "evil" beyond our/society's/God's say-so. And of course, there are different ways of doing this, and there's lots of room for debate. But there's nothing in this debate that requires a belief in or adherence to any particular concept of God. In fact, that usually makes things murkier than they already are.
 
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bhsmte

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What's so wrong with assuming that a common opposition is expressed commonly in the common example of that commonality?

I thought the question was beautifully open ended.

You don't understand the meaning of conversation any more, now that you're an atheist? Seriously?

Did you forget? We are all individuals.
 
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Cearbhall

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What's so wrong with assuming that a common opposition is expressed commonly in the common example of that commonality?
It's just sort of strange to lump people together based on the fact that they don't have a certain identity in common. I get that it's a bit more relevant in this case since religion is a source of morality for some people, but it still doesn't completely make sense to word the question as if an atheist, by definition, has a certain sense of morality. It comes across as "Where else would you get morality?" when the fact is that religion doesn't have any sort of monopoly on the concept.
 
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