Director Roger Nygard traveled the world asking theologians, scientists, skeptics, and everyday people 85 tough questions to try to understand The Nature of Existence! Now that he’s asked the experts, it’s YOUR TURN! To offer your own insights on today’s question, “Is altruism or morality possible without belief in a deity?“, Leave a Reply below!
Yes! Not only possible, but also necessary.
Yes, I beleive it is possible to hbe a moral person and have NO belief in “God”. Some say that morality comes from religion but I do not think that is true. From my personal experience with Christianity, anyone that takes the moral implications and ideas from the Bible seriously….are seriously delusional. As has been proven, humans have a pre-programmed tendency toward “moral” and “fair” behaviour, even in villages where there is no prominence of religious theories. I beleive that the most immoral acts are committed by “believers”, and that many utterly immoral, unethical and downright unjustifiable acts, for example ethnic cleanings and genocides, are committed in the name of “God”. So, knowing this, how can anyone say that we NEED “God” or any sort of deity to be a moral person? Do the two things, morality and “God” even belong in the same sentance? I am highly skeptical.
All so-called altruistic or moral behavior is, in the final analysis, a product of one’s need to be satisfied with one’s own actions. When you do something, you do it to satisfy yourself. In that sense, all conscious behavior is ultimately selfish. This is not a bad thing or a good thing; it is simply the nature of individual motivation.
Absolutely. Morality may be influenced by so many environments surrounding each person such as culture, age, religion, marketing, media etc.
[...] What is morality? Is there a moral yardstick that applies to all cultures? Where does morality, or our “conscience,” comes from? Is altruism or morality possible without belief in a deity? [...]
I think that morality and altruism are rooted in unconditional love which at its essence is universal acceptance in the absence of judgment. To do so does not require belief in a deity and does not preclude such a belief. I think that Andrea’s comments echo much of my thought as well, so thank you Andrea for your eloquent comment.
Morality is such only when not motivated by fear of punishment or hope of reward or blind obedience to authority.
Nebula is, thankfully, wrong. If Nebula’s mother was drowning in a lake, Nebula would leap in to the water to save her… not because Nebula was trying to balance some need to be satisfied or think well of him/herself or be thought well of by others.
When Nebula sees an old woman fallen on the ground and runs over to help her to her feet, Nebula may afterwards reflect happily on his/her action, but at the moment of decision, Nebula is moving to deeper impulses.
Morality to be such, must transcend ethical egoism, instrumentalism, or deontic origins.
Altruism cannot be so airily dismissed after all.
Yes. I believe there are fundamental definitions that we all know about right and wrong; fair or unfair. I believe that, even without a religious doctrine to tell us hurting someone else is wrong, we know that it is wrong.
Another not particularly enlightening or useful question on first principles. Since we know for a fact that morality and altruism indeed exist, and we do not know whether any deities exist, the answer is clear.
Altruism and morality are, to me, concepts which have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with deities anyway.
Altruism and morality are observed in nature being practiced by non-human animals, so yes.
Sure it’s possible for humans, but everyone knows that altruistic elephants are simply channeling the spirit of Ganesha…. right?
Yes and the for a true morality it is *only* possible without a deity or altruism.