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Many people
assume that our various moral codes derive from our religions,
present and past. Recent science suggests that this is not so, they
derived from our apelike ancestors. Present-day apes and monkeys,
along with various other animals like lions and elephants, have also
been observed to have `moral codes’, albeit simpler than ours, as a
part of their ability to co-operate. Our own `moral sense' evolved
further through our first cultures, which were far more at risk
through warfare, disease, accident than those of today. They
therefore had to be far more disciplined just to survive. Religion
played a vital role, with `God' acting as `omnipotent policeman' in
Western cultures at least.
Indeed, until
relatively recently, `culture’ was all but synonymous with
Religion. As a result of political evolution in the West, separation
between the two led to that between church and state, and a great
Renaissance unknown since the Ancient World. Unfortunately, there
has been a price: in modern secular societies notions of `Morality’
have become unfashionable. Yet morals are still very much present,
they are simply unwritten and unformalized. To some extent this has
an advantage: meeting the new ethical challenges presented by science
and technology is easier. It also reduces the risk of principles
being turned into perversions in the way extremists of all
persuasions, religious or not, illustrate so appallingly.
Science has traditionally avoided commenting on moral issues, which
encourages Religions to claim it operates in a `moral vacuum'. Yet
science has been able to determine much about the nature of
morality through sociology and psychology, brain-research and Game
Theory. Professional ethicists may now be in a position to make
`moral recommendations’ in the same way as dietitians constantly
review `best’ diets for the public. These would inevitably be
greeted with derision at first, but perhaps recognition would come
that in Life as in sport, if there are no rules, there is no game.
Our mental and social health, along with our physical health, might
then improve.
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