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The Environment / Re: What would happen if all of humanity vanishes in one second?
« on: 24/03/2021 19:53:48 »What is morality . Is it a standard that other beings could achieve or solely a human trait or way of thinking.
Is it possible for an animal to show a trait or perform an action which we could consider to be a moral act.
I doubt that animals are capable of performing "moral" acts, in the human sense of the term.
Animals are governed entirely by their instinctive drives. The most powerful of which are, probably, "desire" and "fear".
You can see these drives operating even in our domestic animals, such as cats and dogs. These animals might have been expected, through their thousands of years of exposure to contact with humans, to have taken on board some of our human "morality"..
Yet they haven't at all. For example, suppose you're having your dinner in the presence of your dog. Won't the dog snatch the food from your plate - driven by the dog's "desire" for food - unless you have trained the dog not to do that.
By inducing "fear" in the dog, as to the consequences of the food- snatching. The consequences needn't be anything harsh and crude, like physically beating the dog.
An angry snarl from you may suffice. Or even a scowl on your face (dogs are possibly unique in being able to interpret human facial expressions)
Whichever it is, it will induce "fear" in the dog, sufficient to override its "desire" for the food. Assuming you've kept it fairly well-fed to date. So that it's not actually starving.
Of course if the dog is starving, "desire" for food will override the "fear". Then the dog will not just eat the food on
your plate, but eventually you as well when the plate's empty.
The "morality" of these actions won't enter into the dog's head. Though you will, through its jaws.
True?
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