Ethics is man-made


BaalChatzaf

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Ethical systems  are one hundred percent the creation of human beings.  Ethical systems cannot be inferred  from natural, physical laws.  The only  interaction between the ethical and the physical   is that an ethical system, when practiced,  is consistent with the biological nature of humans.  And ethical system cannot (or should not) require any action or state  not consistent with human life.  Ethical/Moral principles are judgments made by humans,  not  true propositions issued by the gods. 

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8 hours ago, BaalChatzaf said:

Ethical systems  are one hundred percent the creation of human beings.  Ethical systems cannot be inferred  from natural, physical laws.  The only  interaction between the ethical and the physical   is that an ethical system, when practiced,  is consistent with the biological nature of humans.  And ethical system cannot (or should not) require any action or state  not consistent with human life.  Ethical/Moral principles are judgments made by humans,  not  true propositions issued by the gods. 

And why did they create them except out of the nature of their physicality?

You want both human beings with their heads for science and mathematics and without them for their creations. There are no creations in science and mathematics, only discoveries. Art, ethical systems, philosophies, automobiles, electric motors, mechanization of agriculture, airplanes, Galt's motor, etc. are all creations, all made possible by discoveries which are seminal. It's hardly this simple, of course. Scientists create experiments, for instance, to test their theories, which are also creations. Are you going to say these are not factual?

All ethical systems so far fall short one way or another. Rand's Objectivist Ethics (morality) cannot match up to the religious gravitas of her conservative antagonists, nor can anything the libertarians have come up with centered on individual rights. Her Objectivism centers on ethical behavior and being while libertarians eschew philosophy generally save for the politics and the implied morality of no initiation of force (because it's wrong).

I think the correct philosophy--or religion if you will--should center on Reality, not God. That means, also, rationality. The emotional punch of salvation through Jesus Christ, however, may be impossible to duplicate. What needs to be done in with is perfection as a moral ideal, for its anti-dynamicism which violates human nature. Randian Man may be Rand's answer to Soviet Man, but if so she never overcame the essence of that kind of corruption. Statues of naked men/women ("man") reflecting perfection, if done right, are wonderful but statues don't move. Real people move, and even characters in novels. (It's okay to move toward perfection if you call it "integrity.")

--Brant

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4 hours ago, BaalChatzaf said:

Ethical systems  are one hundred percent the creation of human beings.  Ethical systems cannot be inferred  from natural, physical laws.  The only  interaction between the ethical and the physical   is that an ethical system, when practiced,  is consistent with the biological nature of humans.  And ethical system cannot (or should not) require any action or state  not consistent with human life.  Ethical/Moral principles are judgments made by humans,  not  true propositions issued by the gods. 

When something exists it exists as something---

What makes a cat, a cat?  A dog, a dog?

What makes man, Man?

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3 hours ago, Brant Gaede said:

And why did they create them except out of the nature of their physicality?

That is a good question.  The only things I can think of is for regulating relations between people to permit communities to form and function.  Communities can promote specialization of labor,  trade  and can produce co-ordinate self defense against outside attack  or natural  disaster.   All of these promote survival.  But these uses do not determine the content of moral codes uniquely.  If moral codes were the consequence of physical law I would expect there to be less variation among than than there is.

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Moral codes are consequent to thinking which is consequent to cognitive consciousness which is consequent to the physical organism called human which is consequent to physical laws. Human beings have a certain human nature common to conceptual being. A proper morality is not arbitrary but congruent with human nature. Individual rights political philosophy is also partially such ethics or morality and a human invention. Rights have no physicality whatsoever.

However, just as people can survive in all sorts of climatic conditions, so too can they survive in all sorts of political moral systems not really appropriate for maximizing human functioning. Some are much worse than others. But humanity progresses, slowly, into a better human-made world. The problem is we don't live so long as to properly experience it.

In the above post you are describing life lived best in a primitive if not tribal society based on sheer survival. For us that would be post-apocalyptic.

--Brant

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2 hours ago, Brant Gaede said:

 

However, just as people can survive in all sorts of climatic conditions, so too can they survive in all sorts of political moral systems not really appropriate for maximizing human functioning. Some are much worse than others. But humanity progresses, slowly, into a better human-made world. The problem is we don't live so long as to properly experience it.I

Maybe the children get to enjoy it.;.;..

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