philosophy, cultural-identity, politics, morality, strong-atheismIn ultimate terms, what is the purpose of a moral interpretation of life? (A related and perhaps more delicate question could be posed alongside this one: what is the value of morality for life?)
The sense of morality is to enforce social behaviour, and social behaviour is in the long run an essential advantage in the struggle of live.
A group of apes can run away in different directions, when the lions come, and every one might hope to be faster than his neighbor. Or they might build a group with sticks and stones, and combine their forces, to fight the lion.
In a group, you may build a house which nobody could build on his own.
You can delegate tasks like teaching the children, and save resources that way. In all those cases you need trust, that you will get something back for your efforts.
If you create a reservoir of food, you don’t want to be robbed. If you need to guard your reservoir constantly, you cannot enlarge it meanwhile.
“Treat other people as you would be treated.” I think the name for that is “enlightened altruism.” Cooperating with others gets you cooperation in return. You achieve more for yourself, your family, your tribe etc. because you’re making it easy for others to help you.
First, do no harm. It is difficult to get specific when defining morality.
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