It Boggles the Mind

"Some animals are surprisingly sensitive to the plight of others. Chimpanzees, who cannot swim, have drowned in zoo moats trying to save others. Given the chance to get food by pulling a chain that would also deliver an electric shock to a companion, rhesus monkeys will starve themselves for several days.

"Biologists argue that these and other social behaviors are the precursors of human morality. They further believe that if morality grew out of behavioral rules shaped by evolution, it is for biologists, not philosophers or theologians, to say what these rules are."

Is? ought?

Chimpanzees and monkeys guiding our way toward higher and better moral standards?

Or maybe just overblown reporting? I'm not sure about that one. But I do see a sadly astonishing amount of moral confusion in there.

From the New York Times (free registration may be required).

You can find a brief introduction to the is-ought problem in Wikipedia. Briefly, it says you cannreason from what is (like animals' behavior) to what ought to be (like human ethics and morality). It's one of the more secure conclusions in philosophy.

Posted: Tue - March 20, 2007 at 07:54 PM |

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It Boggles the Mind

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson