Re: Evolutionary ethics (was Re: Fwd: [asa] Is you doctor an evolutionist - if so, what then?)

> There are also debates about whether - from God's perspective - "the good" isn't merely a matter of arbitrary selection and therefore not really an ethical issue, but a matter of mere power to extend or withhold punishment.<

However, there's a lot of general agreement on what's good, especially
if it's "how should others treat me" rather than "what I ought to be
able to get away with" or "what is excusable in me". C. S. Lewis
argued (Mere Christianity, I think) that a fundamental rejection of
such standards is impossible-e.g., one cannot have a coherent society
in which treason and cowardice and theft are promted as right.

Natural laws certainly don't support the claim that every approach is
equally valid. No matter how postmodern your thinking, you still have
problems if you opt against breathing oxygen or walk off a cliff.
Presence of the HIV virus in your body is bad news for your immune
system whether or not you believe that it causes AIDS.

If people actually obeyed the moral laws in the Bible, it would be a
good society. Consequences of violating them are often not as
immediate as for attempting to disregard physical laws, but
nonetheless disregard for them doesn't seem to work out well.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"
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