A Basis for Morality Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

A Basis for Morality In humanity's quest to distinguish itself from the rest of the animal world, a claim to morality has long been one of its greatest arguments. Perhaps second only to reason as a distinguishing characteristic, the ability to exhibit moral behavior instills in humans a distinct sense of natural order. Yet when anthropocentric egoism is dropped and we recognize that we are not, in fact, much different from other animals, our distinctive moral behavior begs explanation. What compels the majority of humans to behave morally? Why do some not? How should we respond to behaviors that are either immoral or amoral? Do we possess an innate sense of morality, determined by our neurobiology? Or to put it another (more provocative) way, is morality absolute? To begin understanding the causes of moral behavior, we must understand what we mean by morality. First, it must be emphasized that the specifics of morality - whether a given instance of behavior is moral - is not in question here. Abortion may or may not be moral; that is a very different question. At issue here is the question of why we choose one behavior over another on grounds of morality, and how it is possible that we can consider behaviors in terms of "right" and "wrong." This brings forth an assumption implicit in morality. In judging the morality or immorality of a behavior, we accept the assertion that the behavior is chosen by the actor. Any behavior that is not chosen is considered amoral, outside the realm of morality. Thus, free will is seen as a necessary predicate of morality. This assumption will be considered more thoroughly later. Morality itself may be considered in two parts: behavior that directly affects other individuals and behavior ... ...sy.html 5)Depression, from the National Institute for Mental Health. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depressionmenu.cfm 6)No Longer Gage: A Glimpse into Sociability, Temperament, and the Brain, by Julia Johnson. 1998. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper1/Johnson.html 7)Notes for Biology 202: Neurobiology and Behavior, by Paul Grobstein. 2001. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper1/Johnson.html 8)Simple Networks, Simple Rules: Learning and Creating Categories, by Paul Grobstein. Applet by Bogdan Butoi. 1998. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/complexity/perceptron/learning1.html 9)Reciprocal Altruism: Cooperation Among Animals, by Joan Strassmann. 2000. http://dacnet.rice.edu/courses/bios321/lectures/Class11Recipalthtml/ 10)Free Will? by Paul Grobstein. 2000. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/freewill1.html