Morality

 

"It is sometimes said that science has nothing to do with morality. This is wrong. Science is the search for truth, the effort to understand the world; it involves the rejection of bias, of dogma, of revelation, but not the rejection of morality." ~ Linus Pauling

​

Morality refers to ideas of right and wrong, behaviors that are in accord with standards that are deemed acceptable. The question then arises, what standards and who sets them?  Many people believe that to accept evolution necessarily leads to atheism and no basis for a moral life. However it should be noted that many religious followers endorse evolution, including human evolution. The Pope, leader of the Catholic Church with over a billion followers, accepts evolution. So do many more liberal Christians, most Jews and of course the Biologos apologist evangelicals.  Most of the top scientists and philosophers, some who are theists, at universities around the world accept this all encompassing scientific theory. 

​

Our Moral Compass

 

Is it not apparent that nearly all people have a moral compass? The question then becomes where did it come from? 

Where does this internal sense of morality come from? Numerous studies show it’s innate. Can we look to evidence? Studying nature gives us the answer. Morality evolved in social species including humans and we later refined it culturally.

 

“Morality seems to me to be a natural phenomenon - constrained by the forces of natural selection, rooted in neurobiology, shaped by the local ecology, and modified by cultural developments.”

~  Patricia S Churchland

​

Many people merge evolution into atheism and assume accepting evolution means one can't be moral or can't have a reason to be moral.  See here and here. Ironic that it's not true as detailed by studies

​

How do we know morality evolved? Various studies show it is innate and found in numerous species and shows a progression with more sophisticated social species. Shermer notes:
 

“The following characteristics are shared by humans and other social animals: attachment and bonding, cooperation and mutual aid, sympathy and empathy, direct and indirect reciprocity, altruism and reciprocal altruism, conflict resolution and peace-making, community concern and reputation caring, and awareness of and response to the social rules of the groups. As social primate species we evolved the capacity for positive moral values because they enhance the survival of both family and community. Evolution created these values in us, and religion identified them as important in order to accentuate them.”

~ Shermer, M. The Bart Ehrman Blog. Guest Post. Why Even Conservative Christians Should Accept Evolution. Part 2, Sept. 8, 2022.

 

Frans de Waal notes that fairness arises from reciprocity and empathy from compassion, which exists in many social animals. A famous experiment was done with monkeys involving grapes and cucumbers. This video starting at 12:20 shows the result. Where did that monkey get its feelings of fairness, of what is right and wrong in that situation? The same place you did, with some additional cultural refinement.