Michael Huemer on why Evolution doesn't entirely explain morality
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- Опубліковано 29 кві 2024
- In this clip from my talk with philosopher Dr. Michael Huemer, he explains why he thinks morality cannot be reduced to evolution. He argues evolution does not account well for the moral progress which has occurred in the history of humanity during the past two thousand years and, specially, in modernity.
Michael Huemer is a philosopher who has made significant contributions to epistemology, ethics, metaethics and political philosophy. He is well-known for his defense of ethical intuitionism, the view that there are objective moral truths and that we can know them through intuition. Huemer argues that moral principles can be known with a level of certainty similar to that of our knowledge of basic facts about the external world. He has also written extensively on political philosophy, advocating for libertarian principles and critiquing common justifications for state authority.
can we say people have the intuition that the universe is created and that there is an inteligence that creates?
Whether most people throughout history were moral realists is an empirical claim, as is the claim that moral realism is a commonsense position. There is no good empirical evidence to support either claim. I don't know why Huemer and other seem to believe most people are and were moral realists. There just isn't any good evidence this is true.
Good point!
Cultural moral evolution strongly influences natural moral evolution. It is not hard to understand at all, because we see our culture influence evolutionary processes all over the place.
Basically he says the evolution does not explain morality, because compared to ancient times our morality has evolved.
Just think about that: Morality has evolved, but evolution does not explain that it has evolved.
Modern human Morality is not so much a product of natural biological evolution, but a product of cultural evolution. This is not a mystery at all. And even then it is not homogeneous. Morality has very strong heterogeneous aspects to it, and what really holds back the evolution of morality are backward, primitive religions.
your guest assumes ancestral humans could only exist in one, warlike mode. according to the theory of regal and kungic societal structures, this is not the case. humans are only warlike when their environment is hostile. when their environment is peaceful, humans prefer an egalitarian and tolerant society where they live in collective safety. this characterizes modernity. in this state, evolutionary pressures for survival become subtle, indirect, and culture-dependant.
Yes, morality is easily explained by a "MAGIC MAN" who POOFED EVERYTHING into existence and the POOFED man from DUST and POOFED morality into its brain. No Evolution, that would be silly.
You can find a gazillion clips on YT showing animals who behave morally towards their own kind, different species and us humans and I don’t think they all come together in some underground cave on Sunday to study the bible.