View Single Post
Old 10-12-2005, 06:35 AM   #8 (permalink)
zen_tom
Guest
 
I don't believe in God or morals either (because as concepts, they throw out obviously erroneous consequences such as the need to ask this question), but I pay my bills because if I don't they will cut off my electricity. It's nothing more than common sense.

A system has rules, whether they are the laws of physics, a set of mathematical axioms, or the social etiquette conducted whilst having tea with the Queen. The rules are what make a system work, they define it, and the interactions that occur within it.

One thing that the rules have to do is not contradict one another. When rules contradict, we have a paradox. To solve the paradox, we have to either find a new rule, or reappraise our understanding of the rules. A paradox is the point at which a system fails to operate, the point at which it shrugs and starts hinting at infinities, or asks us mysteriously how many angels might dance on the head of a pin. If a system has too many of these paradoxes, it can be deemed to be false. Or rather, the premises on which the system is based can be deemed to be false.

The problem with this question as posed is that it helps prove the non existence of God. It creates a paradox. Did God create Morality, or is Morality something higher than God? Is Morality one of Plato's 'Forms'?

I'd argue for none of the above. Instead, morality (small m) can be best described as a set of behaviours and attitudes that allows a person to function within a society with the optimum ratio of success to effort, and individual vs societical gains. It is a construct of inter-personal interactions that simply did not exist before we did.

Poof. The contradictions disappear.
 
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360