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Seanan Fong
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Joined: 13 May 2006
Posts: 78
Location: Walnut Creek, CA
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 Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:36 pm Post subject: The Innate Morality of HuMan |
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| Are humans born innately good, innately evil, or innately a blank slate? |
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Katie Kolodzie
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 48
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| Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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I believe that most are born good. There's a few notable exceptions, but most of life has made me believe that humans are born slightly good. Some more than others.
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sb311
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Posts: 12
Location: pleasanton
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| Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:05 am Post subject: |
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Ah. The eternal question.
Here's my opinion. Humans are born with tendencies, like talents, tastes, and personality traits. But MORALS, and ETHICS, these come from the environment and the parents and the teachers. I don't think humans are born ALL good, or ALL bad. But they are not blank slates either.
So I am of the "Nature PLUS Nurture" school.
I guess it's a vague answer, but it's sort of a vague question. "Good" and "evil" are so subjective anyway. And there aren't really any "facts" to back that answer up either. Just my thoughts...
~Sruti |
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Seanan Fong
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Joined: 13 May 2006
Posts: 78
Location: Walnut Creek, CA
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| Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:40 am Post subject: |
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| Very interesting, indeed. So a blank moral slate but with born tendencies. Interesting. |
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Tania Kohal
Joined: 04 Jul 2006
Posts: 35
Location: Walnut Creek, CA
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| Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:47 am Post subject: |
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I think that people are born more or less a blank slate; genetics give you some tendencies (eg. people who have had heavy drinkers in their families are more prone to become drinkers themselves). Genetics aside, people are products of their environment. I do not believe that Hitler was born innately evil even thought he acts he committed later on in life were atrocities. What if he had been brought up in another country? another continent? Would the Holocaust ever happened? Probably not by him at least. What if Hitler had gotten into art school instead of being rejected? Maybe he would have spent the rest of his years painting and never would be recognized by history; maybe he would have produced art that would make us praise him today. People are influenced by actions that occur in their environment, whether that includes witnessing a murder or one's parents instilling values and morals.
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Katie Kolodzie
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 48
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| Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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People are definately born with certain concrete ideals. One must indoctrinate most peopel before they can believe that murder or a similar heinous crime is a good thing. It takes a lot to trip those fundamental beliefs, in my opinion.
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Tania Kohal
Joined: 04 Jul 2006
Posts: 35
Location: Walnut Creek, CA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with Katie, people are evolved with basic morals that tell them not to kill people for no reason. Katie is correct in saying that it takes a lot to trip those instincts, that's why we have things like crimes of passion where people who normally would not commit a crime are driven over an edge by power of emotion that overrides basic morals/instincts.
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Matthew Menard
Joined: 12 Jul 2006
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:21 pm Post subject: Re: The Innate Morality of HuMan |
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| Seanan Fong wrote: | | Are humans born innately good, innately evil, or innately a blank slate? |
That is the single most vague question I have ever heard!
That said, it is an awesome question because it is really asking about morality on its fundamental level. In fact, it begs the question of what the fundamental level or morality is.
I'm too lazy to try to answer the question, but I'll enumerate some of the involved principles because they're more interesting than a simple yes/no.
First of all, there are 3 alternatives: good, evil, and blank slate. Obviously good and evil are opposites, but the idea of being a blank slate has to do with the nature/nurture characteristics of human development.
The real question is what are good and evil. The even more interesting question is do good and evil exist outside of humans. If not, it seems strange that we could be moral or amoral before/at birth.
Another layer that is even more interesting is what happens if morals are something established by people and their cultures. In this case the question becomes focused on the issue of whether morals are something too keep deviants from the norm in check, in which case people are inherently good, or whether people are inherently bad and the function of morals is to provide us with a restraining mechanism.
Either way, it's exciting. |
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Katie Kolodzie
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 48
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| Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:01 pm Post subject: |
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And you have to quanitfy: Do you mean ALL people are born innately good or evil? Or are "most". If so, what percentage is "most"? At what point does it become simly indiivual?
VERY interesting point about good and evil beign internal or external... ineed ot think abotu that
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Despair is for those who can see all ends. Can you? Then hope.
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