Do animals have morals?

[Alg]

Animals cannot have morals any more than they can have cities: they are both entirely human constructs. There is no all-knowing-pumpkin-in-the-sky who has created of a code of morality which all humans magically posses.

 

Having declared my position as a nihilist, I now withdraw from this conversation.

What if we look at morality as more than a human construct?

What does any of the concepts being "human constructs" have to do with it anyway? You've used that in two or three different threads, and each time just to disregard the idea without really explaining why.

[Dupin]

Animals cannot have morals any more than they can have cities: they are both entirely human constructs. There is no all-knowing-pumpkin-in-the-sky who has created of a code of morality which all humans magically posses.

 

Having declared my position as a nihilist, I now withdraw from this conversation.

What if we look at morality as more than a human construct?

What does any of the concepts being "human constructs" have to do with it anyway? You've used that in two or three different threads, and each time just to disregard the idea without really explaining why.

He means that morality is a product of our imagination, and therefore doesn't apply to nature because it really doesn't apply to us.

[Zygimantas]

Animals cannot have morals any more than they can have cities: they are both entirely human constructs. There is no all-knowing-pumpkin-in-the-sky who has created of a code of morality which all humans magically posses.

 

Having declared my position as a nihilist, I now withdraw from this conversation.

What if we look at morality as more than a human construct?

What does any of the concepts being "human constructs" have to do with it anyway? You've used that in two or three different threads, and each time just to disregard the idea without really explaining why.

He means that morality is a product of our imagination, and therefore doesn't apply to nature because it really doesn't apply to us.

Then what is not a product of our imagination?

[Dupin]

What is not a product of our imagination?

Oh, you. Take that back to the philosophy thread.

[Zygimantas]

What is not a product of our imagination?

Oh, you. Take that back to the philosophy thread.

Only thing people seem be interested about in that thread is "mind [bleep]s".

[Alg]

What is not a product of our imagination?

Oh, you. Take that back to the philosophy thread.

Only thing people seem be interested about in that thread is "mind [bleep]s".

Personally, I prefer to mix the two.

 

Er, the topic. Yeah.

Human morals are pretty much the things that keep society running: Killing and stealing and the like are wrong because they weaken societal bonds and all that yeah yeah. Social animals probably have similar mechanics, if that definition is the case. Behaviors that help the group survive are rewarded by the fact that the group survives, then they get conditioned into the individuals and become more or less morals.

 

A two year old kid isn't going to break the rules because s/he'll be punished for it. After many more years of that it gets ingrained into the individual, and s/he won't break the rules because s/he genuinely feels that it's wrong.

Perhaps it's like that on an evolutionary scale. Individuals prone to disrupting group life die out because they need the group and all that.

 

I read a Cracked thing like that yesterday. May have to dig that up.

[Millard]

The Lion King is clearly evidence that they do.

[Dupin]

The Lion King is clearly evidence that they do.

Oh man. I'm not sure how we all overlooked this.

 

But...did they really have morals? It seemed to me like it was more of an elitist story about personal gain and familial monarchy. And Scar was clearly evidence that some animals definitely do not have morals.

[Omar]

Yeah, but some humans don't either. That would mean humans don't have morals, according to your logic.

[Zygimantas]

Yeah, but some humans don't either. That would mean humans don't have morals, according to your logic.

Some humans don't have morals? I know the some don't have emotions, but does that mean that they don't have morals?

[Omar]

Yeah, but some humans don't either. That would mean humans don't have morals, according to your logic.

Some humans don't have morals? I know the some don't have emotions, but does that mean that they don't have morals?

Psycopaths behave amorally.

[Zygimantas]

Yeah, but some humans don't either. That would mean humans don't have morals, according to your logic.

Some humans don't have morals? I know the some don't have emotions, but does that mean that they don't have morals?

Psycopaths behave amorally.

Still I think that they have their own, distinct moral code.

[Omar]

Still I think that they have their own, distinct moral code.

They have a code of conduct (that is how they appear normal), but it's not a moral code because they behave in a certain way strictly to minimize the consequences of their actions. This may be the logic behind our morals too (don't kill or you'll be jailed, shunned, etc.) but there's a veneer of civilization on ours (don't kill because it's wrong). Animals behave in the same way as psychopaths do, I think.

[Zierro]

What does any of the concepts being "human constructs" have to do with it anyway? You've used that in two or three different threads, and each time just to disregard the idea without really explaining why.

 

Yeah, I don't get that either. Why can't "human constructs" be applied to animals? Big, small, energetic, interest, and death are all "human constructs" as well. Animals obviously can't use those words, but the concept behind the words which humans have coined still play a large role in animals' lifestyles, no?

[Saru Inc]

What is not a product of our imagination?

Oh, you. Take that back to the philosophy thread.

Only thing people seem be interested about in that thread is "mind [bleep]s".

 

 

I believe you mean wanna be mind [bleep]s. They aren't actual mind [bleep]s. Just simple questions reworded using dead language, awkward sentence structure, or ominous tones. Like how do humans exist? That question always makes me rage.

 

 

My dog caught a bunny today. That's the third bunny this fall, he's such a good dog. It's so funny cuz he refuses to eat the bunny outside. But we don't let him back inside without throwing away the bunny. So he just sits there "doggie crying" at the door with the dead sack of flesh in his mouth.

[Bloodstain]

Yeah, but some humans don't either. That would mean humans don't have morals, according to your logic.

 

They're the exception, and since people still don't know the exact inner workings of sociopaths, who knows why they don't have morals. Also, I'm probably getting this mixed up with a legal defense, but IIRC sociopaths recognize that other people have morals. Psychopaths/sociopaths/serial killers are incredibly rare anyway

 

 

My dog caught a bunny today. That's the third bunny this fall, he's such a good dog. It's so funny cuz he refuses to eat the bunny outside. But we don't let him back inside without throwing away the bunny. So he just sits there "doggie crying" at the door with the dead sack of flesh in his mouth.

 

Yer, my dog's found some dead animals and eaten them, makes me worry about what kind of parasites and stuff the animals are carrying though

[Omar]

Yeah, but some humans don't either. That would mean humans don't have morals, according to your logic.

Psychopaths/sociopaths/serial killers are incredibly rare anyway

Case in point, so are lions like Scar. :lol:

[Furah]

Yeah, but some humans don't either. That would mean humans don't have morals, according to your logic.

Psychopaths/sociopaths/serial killers are incredibly rare anyway

Most of my close friends are sociopaths.

[Dupin]

Yeah, but some humans don't either. That would mean humans don't have morals, according to your logic.

Psychopaths/sociopaths/serial killers are incredibly rare anyway

Most of my close friends are sociopaths.

My parents are psychopaths.

 

I know because I read a description of psychopathy on the internet and that qualifies me to make a weighty and illogical decision about something many psychologists claim isn't even a real disorder.

[Bloodstain]

Yeah, but some humans don't either. That would mean humans don't have morals, according to your logic.

Psychopaths/sociopaths/serial killers are incredibly rare anyway

Most of my close friends are sociopaths.

 

My friends are pyromaniacs, anti-social, kleptomaniacs, AND sociopaths all in one. :cool: