Frans de Waal's Bottom-Up Morality: We're Not Good Because Of God
In a book coming out next week called The Bonobo and the Atheist , primatologist Frans de Waal argues that morality is built into our species. Rather than coming to us top-down from God, or any other external source, morality for de Waal springs bottom-up from our emotions and our day-to-day social interactions, which themselves evolved from foundations in animal societies.
For 30 years, de Waal has authored books about apes and monkey that open our eyes to the bottom-up origins of our human behaviors, ranging from politics to empathy. In this, his 10th volume, he extends that perspective by writing, "It wasn't God who introduced us to morality; rather, it was the other way around. God was put into place to help us live the way we felt we ought to."
"The way we felt we ought to" has a long evolutionary history, so that de Waal's thesis depends crucially on numerous and convincing examples from our closest living relatives - http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/03/21/174830095/frans-de-waals-bottom-up-morality-were-not-good-because-of-god
De Wall's treatises tend to spark a lot of controversy, partly because of his comparison of humans to primates and partly because of his unconventional approaches.
De Waals research is no friend to human vanity. In the grand tradition of Galileo and Darwin, he provokes those who seek to draw a clear line between human beings and everything else. If human morality has deep roots in our evolutionary past, then we can expect it to be more resilient, less susceptible to the contingencies of history. Seeing morality in this light also undermines the view of human beings as inherently selfisha view that de Waal terms veneer theory. Morality, according to veneer theory, is merely a recent cultural invention, a thin veneer that masks our true selfish animal nature.
His latest book is worth a read, for those so inclined to understand human emotionality.
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I'm sorry, but I can't help myself. Please forgive the brief derail:
Is Frans de Waal related to Van der Waal?
Anyone take chemistry? LOL! So sorry, continue...
It makes sense that morality is built on the ideals we associate with keeping society together. If you cant live and keep moral, society doesn't want you.
And as such, morality has evolved to go with whatever current mode of behavior that is considered acceptable.
The good original thoughts (golden rule and such) will stay with society forever because they are the basic building blocks of being able to live together.
It also makes sense that most "morals" go out the window in times of stress, abandoment, or rejection from society. And those that already feel rejected dont share the same morals.
No relation. Frans de Waal
I haven't read "Naked Ape" but I have read "Trousered Apes" which was mind-boggling in it's own way. I may not agree with de Waal's theories here but I'm not going to ignore the research that went into it.
My apologies! I just couldn't help myself-- it's a geology joke. The bonds between the sheets of mica are Van der Waal bonds, which is why it's so peel-able...
I'm so sorry, I'll go away now!