Psychology Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Morals: morals refers to a more or less coded set of rules, action maxims, duties and prohibitions within a society or group. Most of these rules are unconsciously internalized among the members of the society or group. Their justification and the possible assessment of actions are reflected in ethics and meta ethics. See also values, norms, rights, ethics._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Stephen Jay Gould on Morals - Dictionary of Arguments
II 30 ff Suffering/moral/nature/science/Gould: question: why are we surrounded by pain, suffering and seemingly senseless cruelty in the animal world? In the 19th century Buckland said: carnivorous races "actually increased the sum of the animals' zest for life by reducing the pain"... "spare from senility".... (1) For example, Gould: there is a terrible counter-example to this idealizing view of nature as a practically established overall budget: the ichneumon fly lays its eggs in a host that is slowly eaten from the inside, staying alive as long as possible to provide fresh food. II 33 Anthropocentric reflections oscillate between horrified moral reaction and admiration for refined performance. In spite of all the differences, our naturalists knew that God's benevolence had to be somewhere behind this stories. II 36 Charles Lyell, for example, said that the infected caterpillars represented a threat to nature. (2) Another emphasized the motherly love of the fly, all the more admirable as it never sees its young ones. The tradition of reading a moral meaning into descriptions of nature did not end with the triumph of the theory of evolution in 1859. The contemporary George Mivart, a devout Catholic, argued that animals if, then suffered less pain than humans, and on the other hand that they did not associate feelings with morality. (3) There was also a racist model at the time that "inferior breeds" suffered less. II 39 Only Darwin himself put an end to this tradition: "It seems to me that there is too much misery in nature." Thus the breakthrough has been made, that no more hidden goodness has to be sought in nature. II 40 Another argument, which was radical at the time of Darwin, but which is now commonplace, is that nature is simply how we find it, it does not carry a moral message. Responses cannot be read out passively from nature. The de facto state of the world does not teach us how to change or preserve it as morally as possible with our power to do good or evil. To ask why such cruelties occur in nature is completely inappropriate for us, because the world is neither dominated by us nor made for us. (See Social Darwinism/Gould). 1. W. Buckland (1836): Geology and mineralogy considered with reference to natural theology. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard. 2. Ch. Lyell (1830-33): Principls of geology (3 Vol.) London: John Murray. 3. St. G. Mivart (1871): On the genesis of species. London: MacMillan. 4. Ch. Darwin (1860): Letter to Asa Gray._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Gould I Stephen Jay Gould The Panda’s Thumb. More Reflections in Natural History, New York 1980 German Edition: Der Daumen des Panda Frankfurt 2009 Gould II Stephen Jay Gould Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes. Further Reflections in Natural History, New York 1983 German Edition: Wie das Zebra zu seinen Streifen kommt Frankfurt 1991 Gould III Stephen Jay Gould Full House. The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin, New York 1996 German Edition: Illusion Fortschritt Frankfurt 2004 Gould IV Stephen Jay Gould The Flamingo’s Smile. Reflections in Natural History, New York 1985 German Edition: Das Lächeln des Flamingos Basel 1989 |
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