Human Morality: Unbound from Religion

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Human Morality: Unbound From Religion Human morality concerns itself with the ethical choices that people make every single day, from small choices such as how to behave in a conversation, to the dramatic such as whether or not to commit a terrible crime such as murder. While it is important to understand the contributions that religion has made to human reasoning, it may be possible and perhaps more favorable to look at morality from the standpoint of social development, evolution and general human intelligence. In grasping with the developmental processes of human life, an understanding of morality is revealed that does not require religion to remain sound. Part I: Argument To look at human morality from a scientific and evolutionary approach, it is perhaps best to start with Charles Darwin and the idea of evolution through natural selection. “Darwinism undermines both the idea that man is made in the image of God and the idea that man is a uniquely rational being” (Rachels, 1990). If man does not gain morality from a divine source then it must come from a different source, looking to evolution and other species, glimpses of moral behavior may be recognized. Research conducted at Emory University shows that chimpanzees and other apes are capable of altruism, sympathy, moral disapproval, sharing and even notions of fairness (Wade, 2007). These animals develop social and moral codes of conduct when living in groups, individuals, however, typically develop primitive moral reasoning at a highly reduced capacity. Humans, being highly social animals, develop morality and social codes of conduct at a rapid pace by necessity of being social animals. One of the most popular modern theories on morality comes from Lawrence Kohlberg, his work separates moral development into three levels associated with the way in which humans are believed to think, these are
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