[afa]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Whenever human beings live together in groups, there must be agreement on what constitutes acceptable behavior, for the survival and efficient functioning of the group.
[snip]
Moral behavior may not be hard wired, but it becomes innate. We soak up our ideas of what is moral through the skin, starting at a pre-verbal age, simply by watching those around us and doing as they do.

Very well said, and I agree.

One example is the Jewish and Muslim prohibition against eating pork.
[snip]
They simply need too much water. How do you prevent people from doing things with attractive short term benefits that have bad long term consequences that aren't obvious or immediately visible? "Because God said not to!" is one fairly powerful method.

Speaking as a Muslim (officially, at least) I find that an interesting take on the prohibition against pork. Never thought of it that way...

The Muslim woman's burqa stems from the same underlying assumption: a man can't control himself, and must be given no provocation. Cover yourself from head to toe.)

Again, I agree.

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Thank you afa for allowing me this instant of thought. I hope I did not bore you with good intent...

I don't know why you think you would 'bore' me. Are you under the impression that I have a thing against good intentions? Or that I was advocating the abolishment of morality or values? If so, I'm afraid you've severely misunderstood.

I never said that I think good intentions or morality are a waste of time, nor are they undesirable. I brought up the question because I was wondering where it comes from, and whether there were external factors and stresses that might influence my (or anyone else's) morality. The 'end of the world' thing was really just an excuse to bring about that question, as the scenario seemed sufficiently extreme to bring about radical change.

I found myself curious about my morality, and wanted to consider the philosophical implications of it.