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by -O-uknow on March 11th, 2007

-O-uknow

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What grounds do atheists base their morality?

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  • by American idle on May 27th, 2007

    American idle

    Human nature. Since when does atheist mean "brainless" or "emotionless"?

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  • by lizvelrene on May 30th, 2007

    lizvelrene

    Mainly the same places theists do: from their experiences, from their upbringing, from their friends and family, from personal reflection and from the wisdom of those who came before.

    There is an enormous range of study going back to ancient times concerning this subject: philosophy and ethics. Different people may have different traditions they find relevant; I lean towards Kant, the existentialists, the good ole ancient Greeks, that sort of thing. But I had some academic training in this regard. I also find that the great literature has influenced me a lot in my view of the world, writers like Tolstoy and Shakespeare explain the human condition for me far better than any religious text. "The Plague" by Albert Camus has gone farther for me in explaining morality in a meaningless world than anything else I've read - it's about a doctor who fights an unstoppable plague. Despite the fact that he can neither save his patients nor prevent future deaths, he struggles on to help them, for we all must do the best we can for each other. (That's an enormous simplification, but the basic idea)

    Religions define morality in a set of inflexible rules left over from an ancient time, enforced by a punishment and reward system. A non-theist tends to believe that there will be neither punishment nor reward beyond what we enforce in this life, and that we should do right by one another regardless. Not because we want to "go to heaven", but because if everyone behaved in this way it would be to the benefit of all. Anyone who needs a rigorous system for this should look up Kant's categorical imperative, which works out the same thing in a logical and structured way.

    Incidentally, certain religious philosophers, like Buddha and Jesus, said some good things in this regard, but a non-theist will interpret their teachings a bit differently. For example, whenever Jesus talked about the kingdom of heaven being at hand, I don't take it to refer to any "end of the world". To many people it means that if we were all a bit kinder to each other, here on earth would be a kind of heaven. Which is pretty wise when you think about it. So some religious figures and people with religious beliefs can be a source of wisdom for an atheist just like any other human being, but as they are human beings their words are up for interpretation and modification. I had a religious upbringing, but I never could consider "because god said so" to be a good enough reason for anything. If you can demonstrate for me, though, how a behavior benefits my fellow man, I will be glad to use it to guide my decision-making regardless of where that piece of wisdom came from.

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  • by P. W. Pasobrio loves Marines on May 26th, 2007

    P. W. Pasobrio loves Marines

    The same place the religious do from their famlies or socity. No one religion has the lock on morality it's really a sociological thing. The only morals that last are the ones that promote the betterment of socity. The only real diffence is a religious person is locked into a set of morals dictated by the Church while an atheist can pick what they do and do not believe.

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  • by Tamilze on October 4th, 2008

    Tamilze

    Atheists are lucky enough to have a pure, human morality that is not tainted by an holy book or divine commands.

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  • by Im Alec has abandoned this account on May 27th, 2007

    Im Alec has abandoned this account

    Respect for other people, both individually and as a community. And the results come out remarkably similar to that substrate of common good behaviour that all religious moralities share.

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  • by DudeLer 2 on February 2nd, 2009

    DudeLer 2

    The Golden Rule.

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  • by Farino on May 31st, 2007

    Farino

    Logic. When we were small groups of humans living in small tribes we obeyed the rules of nature, just like wolves and lions do:
    By murdering each other you bring down the numbers in your group, making it easier for your enemies to take your land and making it harder to hunt.
    By stealing you create anger, in the heat of battle/the hunt you are less likely to help someone in your tribe that has stolen from you in the past.

    So simply, by doing what we want others to do for us helps the tribe survive and excel.

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  • by Starmaster on May 27th, 2007

    Starmaster

    While learning and studying the rest of the human society. It is based on social behavior that may have nothing to do with people's religious beliefs.

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  • by geek860 on June 9th, 2007

    geek860

    I use logic. Works pretty well.

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  • by Sgt Churba - Rational Response Squad on June 9th, 2007

    Sgt Churba - Rational Response Squad

    From the society around them.

    Interestingly, If you research it, You find that the values set forth in the bible are actually common societal values of the time frame and area, from long before the bible was written.

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  • by Magenta on June 9th, 2007

    Magenta

    Atheism is simply the belief there is no God- it is not an entire world view, so that word does not refer to any morality.

    Many Atheists are Humanists. Humanists believe in the inherent value of every human being, and the inherent rights of every human being.

    That means any action that causes harm to another or that limits another's rights is bad to one degree or another.

    BTW- this is the basis of American concepts of human rights, not Christianity.

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  • by Nelson - Jetpacking from bed on May 31st, 2007

    Nelson - Jetpacking from bed

    Someone was trolling the atheists! I'm sure a good christian wouldn't do that. Didn't Jesus teach tolerance?

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  • by Mr. Meaulnes on May 30th, 2007

    Mr. Meaulnes

    What grounds does anyone base their morality on?
    I don't believe that a person needs council from any "God" to have morals, religious texts and teachings lay down a code of *Ethics*, not morals.
    Rihgt and Wrong are things that a person should be able to distinguish for themselves, and if they think they need a "God" to have morality, then they've lost touch with their own inate human morality.
    In some cases, a religiously based code of ethics can be useful in insuring that the "Right" thing gets done, but no one should rely so much on any moral code that they start following it without any verification from their natural moral center.

    I don't think anyone should rely solely on religion to distinguish right from wrong, because "Morality" is a very inconsistent thing, and any pre-written rules for it are bound to be wrong in some instances, whereas most people, other than say... Psychotics, sociopaths, etc, are able to tell right and wrong when they see it.

    True, there are some instances when morals can be confusing and arduous to distinguish, times when "Right" and "Wrong" are highly subjective, and it's times like that when a good ethical code can come in handy to help one see, from their own moral perspective, what they should do, but it's never a good thing to become dependant on ethics to fill in for morals, if you follow what religion and ethics tells you is "Right", without also recognizing it as right with your own moral compase, then you're not determining your actions in a healthy way.

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  • by Old School on May 30th, 2007

    Old School

    I am a weak agnostic (I suspect God(s) doesn't exist, but I'm open to the possibility).

    I believe that most of human morality can be derived from what I call Humanity's Mission Statement.

    To wit, "The purpose of Humanity is to determine what the purpose of Humanity is. Anything that interferes with this mission, either individually or collectively, is proscribed."

    Hence...

    Murder = denying a person the ability to pursue the mission

    Thievery = endangering a person's ability to sustain himself/herself and pursue the mission

    Freedom of Speech = necessary for the free exchange of ideas about Humanity's purpose

    Freedom of Religion = necessary for everyone to pursue the mission in their own way.

    etc., etc., etc.

    No one needs to get smitten from above or burn in an eternal Lake of Fire.

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  • by failed_stoic on February 2nd, 2009

    failed_stoic

    Observation, induction, deduction, theory, common sense ... not goblins, ghosts, and other mysterious icons.

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  • by dumdum on February 2nd, 2009

    dumdum

    To me it is implied within your question that a person without a belief in "God", can not have a moral center - do not see good and evil, right and wrong. If that is the contention; I disagree. To turn it around a bit would it than be fair to say that some only believe, have faith - base their morality on the premise that there is a "God" and must live their life with the fear the a day of judgement will come so that should live with the fear of that day and not that doing it would always be correct to lead a moral life. Being God fearing {or having faith}, or an atheists and having morals are not always connected.+5 thanks

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  • by MrJosh on February 2nd, 2009

    MrJosh

    As an atheist, I treat people as I would like to be treated. All morality can be derived from that. Sure there are times when the answer isn't obvious, but I have a rational brain to help me decide what the correct course of action is.
    -
    If I may digress, I would suggest that those who rely on others to tell them what is right or wrong may be doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Might they be less moral?

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  • by Esteban-- Smart ass Pumpkin on February 2nd, 2009

    Esteban-- Smart ass Pumpkin

    The writings of Laverne and Shirley.

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  • by johngo on February 2nd, 2009

    johngo

    We have evolved to be social animals, that means we naturally balance personal selfishness against the needs of our kin and the wider society.

    All religion does is to provide a fallacious account of what humans do naturally. We are moral because we have evolved to be moral. We all share much the same kinds of morals just as we all share much the same kinds of bodies.

    We love our children because we have evolved to love them. In general we avoid murder because we have evolved to avoid murder. All our moral judgements are derived in the same way through evolution by natural selection. No supernatural lawgiver is needed, just the process of evolution.

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  • by meowry on October 4th, 2008

    meowry

    Basing your own sense of morality on a religion is basically discounting your own ability to stay moralistic. I'm not an atheist, but I do base my own morals on the principle that I want to retain some self-respect. Some people seem all too willing to give that up.

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  • by Babycakes on June 9th, 2007

    Babycakes

    I think for many who come from a religious background,religion is synonymous with morality. Some people think if you are an atheist,you simply have no morals. That is just wrong. There are lot of people who are atheists who do very wonderful things. As an objective question, do people who have religious backgrounds show different patterns of moral judgements than people who are atheists? The answer..no

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  • by Anonymous on May 30th, 2007

    Anonymous

    From Humanity and instinct. People should not have to follow a rulebook to know how to treat one another.

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  • by Nelson - Jetpacking from bed on May 26th, 2007

    Nelson - Jetpacking from bed

    Ethics

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  • by American idle on March 11th, 2007

    American idle

    Humanity.

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  • by scubabob on March 11th, 2007

    scubabob

    I can't speak wholly for atheists as I'm agnostic, but I feel it will be similar.
    Human compassion and the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong as it regards to society as a whole.

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  • by American Spirit on February 13th, 2009

    American Spirit

    Logic, laws, and common sense work for me.

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  • by CaRbOnPrOdUcK is Baccuss on February 12th, 2009

    CaRbOnPrOdUcK is Baccuss

    Real live personal conviction, not fiction novels.

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  • by Friartuck on February 12th, 2009

    Friartuck

    Same place anyone else does. I see what those around me are punished for and I see what they are rewarded for. I learn why this is so from a variety of sources - it just so happens I don't think any gods are real, so when it comes to stuff like "...and respect the Lord your God..." or "...stop it or god will strike you blind..." I don't worry too much about it...

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  • by Gene H on February 2nd, 2009

    Gene H

    I can't answer for others. For me, it's coffee.

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  • by Kravenhead on October 4th, 2008

    Kravenhead

    I think what's right and wrong can be based on what works in a real productive sense, for the self, and the body of the whole. If either are neglected, neither prospers long-term. The basic tenets of most successful religions, rely on those very principles; that's not to say, they all practice what they preach. I'm sorry to say, the religious seem to get sidetracked and blamed, by and for, the greedy natures of some of their power hungry leaders. Essentially, honest, intellegent thinking believers and nonbelievers, want things to work out well for all, and in turn, somewhat know how to achieve those ends through cooperation and tolerance, for the mutual benefit of everyone and everything.

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  • by Rusty on June 9th, 2007

    Rusty

    It seems to me that they pick up the scraps of morality from a distance, what has been given from God, like their very life, and than say that it came from somewhere else.

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  • by DreAnna on May 30th, 2007

    DreAnna

    I would think what most base morality on, common sense..being basically human with a knowledge of right and wrong. Religion does not create morality.

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  • by RaHeeM on May 30th, 2007

    RaHeeM

    I too am not atheist but more agnostic, I base my morals on what my parents told me when I was young.

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  • by Halskiisaklink on May 27th, 2007

    Halskiisaklink

    Off a lemon tree, if you get my meaning.

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  • by skeptic on February 3rd, 2010

    skeptic

    If Christianity is true it follows that ALL have access to knowledge of right and wrong with the freedom to chose moral actions. The claim some atheists make that "you don't need to be religious to be moral" is therefore true and there is no need to write whole books on it. It must also be true that if God did redeem us through the death of Christ His saving grace must also be available to all, without the need to run around trying to "prove" it empirically (though it is not opposed to reason). Those who reject God are making a belief choice and are fooling themselves if they claim that they are the only people who are "thinking". They still need to account for theism and descend into "nothingbutters" (Religion is "nothing but" a thought virus called a meme etc etc). In other words if God exists He cannot not be found at the end of a syllogism or telescope: his saving grace is a gift which can either be accepted or rejected.

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  • by anddeb on February 2nd, 2009

    anddeb

    Just anything they can come up withto fuss agout. But when they hit trouble the first thing they do is ask God to help them, which proves the really do believe in God or they would not be calling on him to help them.

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  • by Anonymous on May 30th, 2007

    Anonymous

    I'm an atheist, but I do base some of my morality on the ten commandments, as well as the laws of my country, scientific evidence and empathy.

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  • by Inspector Javert on May 30th, 2007

    Inspector Javert

    Laws, persoanl experiences, what I was taught... what I feel and see, philosphy, compassion, empathy, and so many more things.

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  • by 23Skidoo on February 13th, 2009

    23Skidoo

    That depends on the atheist, I should think.

    But in general I would say that we base them on the same things as anyone else:

    -personal feelings
    -a desire to treat others as we would want to be treated
    -an understanding that common decency and courtesy helps make the society we live in work better

    We simply don't pretend there is some invisible parent / cop looking over us.

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  • by -O-uknow on June 9th, 2007

    -O-uknow

    Individual expediency and the belief that right and wrong are arbitrary. Subject to what is agreed upon.

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  • by Stu B needs no COAT for summer on February 13th, 2009

    Stu B needs no COAT for summer

    It depends on the individual...

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