"At the moment of action, man will no doubt be apt to follow the strongest impulse; and though this may occasionally prompt him to the noblest deeds, it will more commonly lead him to gratify his own desires at the expense of other men. But after their gratification when past and weaker impressions are judged by the ever-enduring social instinct, and by his deep regard for the good opinion of his fellows, retribution will surely come. He will then feel remorse, repentance, regret, or shame; . . . . . He will consequently resolve more or less firmly to act differently for the future; and this is conscience; for conscience looks backwards, and serves as a guide for the future.” (Descent of Man, ch. 4)
Darwin believed as I do that we all have a natural talent for morality, which evolved along with our bodies. That doesn't mean that we always make the right decision. We all know that isn't the case! What we have a talent for is evaluating a situation and making decisions that will enhance our survival, the survival of others or simply our happiness. Darwin is right, we want the good opinion of our fellows. In addition to that we feel compassion for the people around us. We are capable of seeing ourselves in them and that is a very important moral capability.
I'm not talking about broken people here. I'm talking about ordinary people. Some people had no good model to learn morality from. Some people have problems with their biochemistry. Some people were caught in a chain of abuse that passes from generation to generation creating a line of broken people.
Compassion dictates that we try to heal those people or at least keep them from harming others.
I would like for you to imagine for a moment, bear with me here, that you made a fist and slugged the person sitting next to you.
Is that wrong? Well, obviously. And here is why I think it's wrong. Some of you might arrange these in a different order of importance. Number 1 is you have just caused pain to someone you care about. Number 2 is they may slug you back. Number 3 is you now live in a world where people hit each other. You have to worry about people slugging you instead of reading the rest of this essay in peace.
Modern morality tells us that when you slugged your neighbor you didn't respect their inherent worth and dignity. That is true, you didn't. You also did not respect your own worth and dignity because you provided a world for yourself that was neither safe nor happy.
In an essay called "The Evolution of Ethics" S. E. Bromberg writes:
"When the subject of ethics arises, reasonable people often ask, "Who is to say what is right or wrong?" When ethical development is viewed as a science, it is not so much who's to say an action is morally right or wrong, but rather "what is to say an action is right or wrong," defined by inherent limitations of the physical and psychological worlds that make it impractical or imprudent to pursue certain behaviors, attitudes, or methods of reasoning regarding personal circumstances. Some of these limitations are illustrated in the evolution of traffic laws, street signs and stop lights which show how a system of law which came into being to minimize pain, suffering and death and to maximize societal efficiency, harmony and prosperity."
It came to my attention some while ago that there are people who have no morality at all. They have given their morality away to some sort of authority. Their own morality has withered and they can no longer make good decisions as to what is right and wrong. They entirely rely on someone else to tell them how to behave.
How do you know the Bible is a good moral authority? How do you know the works of the Dalai Lamma or Billy Graham provide good moral advice? How do you know your mother's moral teaching was good. How about the moral teaching you got at school? Stand quietly in line, do as the teacher tells you, no talking and don't slug the kid sitting next to you.
You see, I think we have a duty to evaluate all that stuff for ourselves. We can't just say "well everybody says So-and-so is a great moral teacher, I'll do what they say. Who the hell am I to decide such things? They know a lot more than I do." That logic has caused people to strap bombs to themselves and blow up school buses. That logic has caused people to gather wood to pile around the foot of the stake. That logic has caused people to fight the use of condoms so AIDS rampages through entire populations.
