<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> De Waal's work with bonobo chimps has facinating information about
> primate cultures. His work Peacemaking Among Primates is a great
book
> for finding the roots of many social customs in our ancient past.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067465921X/103-7153482-6367068?
v=glance&n=283155
Aside from the fact that their societies are
matriarchal, and that they would apparently
rather make love than war, of course.
I'd guess you cited the bonobo as evidence against
my speculative suggestion that humans may intuit
"orderliness" and that this intuition may be a
source of their sense of ethics.
However, bonobos are among the very few species of
non-human animals who have passed the "mirror test,"
which is thought to be a sign of self-consciousness.
So I suggest that they may also have a primitive
intuitive capacity that can sense "orderliness."
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues"
> > <curtisdeltablues@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I believed that ethics and morals were like natural laws that
came
> > > from God to mankind through the scriptures in each culture.
> > >
> > > Now I believe that we choose our ethics while shaped by our
reason
> > > and our social contract with others. Much of this was created
in
> > > our primate past as we learned the value of the group and the
> > > behaviors necessary to live together.
> > >
> > > I think under each point of view some people act ethically and
some
> > > do not. I don't know which is more effective for helping people
act
> > > in a kind way towards others. I just know what point of view I
> > > hold and I do my best from that perspective.
> > >
> > > So what do you believe?
> >
> > I think the scriptural ideas of morality reflect the
> > ethics of the cultures for which the scriptures were
> > written. I think there *may* be some innate human
> > sense that shapes and reinforces ethical behavior,
> > and is perpetuated because it's been found to work, but
> > where that sense came from, I couldn't say. I wouldn't
> > rule out that it comes from an inherent "orderliness"
> > (in the very-big-picture sense) from which the
> > universe emerged and which humans intuit.
> >
> > But the "rules" put forth in scripture that are said
> > to have been laid down by God I think are just a
> > (relatively clumsy) approximation of what we intuit of
> > that "orderliness."
> >
> > With that one caveat--that ethical behavior may arise
> > from some intuition of an abstract "natural law" (but
> > coming through humans, not some divine lawgiver)--I agree
> > with everything else you said.
> >
>
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