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Ian Morton's picture

Thank you for your

Thank you for your thoughts!

I think you hit on an important point by discussing the arrarent difficulty we all seem to face is clearly defining what qualifies as moral. Generally, it makes sense to view morality as inherently social, as well as to consider that it make have biological origins in addition to social construction. However, as you point out, owing to cultural relativism and the apparent lack of a universal code of morality, defining what exactly is meant by "moral" seems a difficult task. Could a biological or neurological definition of morality be of any value? Would these definitions be somehow "universal?"

Additionally, I think it is important to realize that our reasoning/learning offers the potential to redefine or alter our intuitions. This is a postive outlook on sociality, as it asserts a potential for social change in the face of unconscious and deeply ruited dispositions. Perhaps this notion can contribute further to the observed potential for intuitions and reasoning to arrive at different conclusions and thereby drive differentially drive behavior.

Finally, I am glad you believe that personal anecdotes were valuable in our conversation. While we typically consider science as an objective undertaken, here is seems that subjective understandings can offer important insight.

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