Atheism and morality (Introduction)

by George Jelliss , Crewe, Saturday, October 16, 2010, 11:28 (5130 days ago) @ David Turell

It doesn't seem to me that there is anything new in Marks's argument. A. J. Ayer said much the same years ago, that words like "good" and "beautiful" do not have objective meanings, and David Hume argued that you cannot derive "ought" from "is". But this doesn't mean that an atheist cannot have morality. A-theism is just a non-belief in supernatural beings like gods, so is not in itself a worldview.-As a Humanist my moral beliefs are based on the assumption that, as Sam Harris expresses it in his new book, what is good is what promotes the flourishment of human life, which is really just a modern more sophisticated version of utilitarianism. This is what is called "normative" ethics. This is the only sort of ethics that makes rational sense.-The way I see it the ethical prerogatives begin with yourself and your family and friends and species, and extend out to other species and life in general, and beyond that to the physical environment and the universe in general. What is good is what works in promoting the widest possible flourishment. Of course this doesn't eliminate ethical dilemmas, where there is a conflict of interests, but it does provide a rational basis for solving such issues.

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GPJ