Of course it doesn't, and nor should it. The advancement of the species comes in cooperative selfishness, in the realization that through cooperation, selfish needs are achieved. Primate tribes defending against a high risk attack face death, and their behaviour is seemingly altruistic. After all, they could run off and let the others in the tribe fight the battle. However, in doing so, they would lose the quality of life they gain as a member of the tribe. The difference about this naturalist perspective is that is doesn't seek to impose a moral perspective which may not be shared upon the listener. It only makes anthropological observations about humans as primates, relates their behaviour to other primates, and predicts their behaviour with a fairly high degree of certainty. (P.S. Did I mention Tiana's gone back to school for her next degree in Anthro? ;) Lots of these conversations round the house... ). Humans make philosophical observations about themselves, but their social behaviour, and by extension their individual behaviour as a part of society, is no different in from than any other primate. It's only our society, and modes of communication which is more complex, which is in keeping with with the progression of evolutionary biology.
By operating from this base, naturalist level, we begin to understand the dynamics of human individual and social relationships as a series of constant negotiations between the selfish needs of one person to the next, from the micro to the macro. When we understand this dynamic, we can predict certain behaviours, and trends of behaviours, and learn to guide our society accordingly in order to provide a better quality of life for all... ...and in the end, for me. On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 6:29 PM, Kierkecraig <[email protected]>wrote: > > So you base your political theory, moral theory, or whatever you want > to call it, on selfishness? Of all foundations, that foundation is > the most unstable of all. What you want only matters to you. And > what you want, is never going to be what your neighbor wants. Your > neighbors desire may be that you be a devout muslim, and that all > people should be devout muslims. That may be his selfish desire, but > is completely inconsistent with yours. How can we call something > either right or wrong based solely on selfishness...Selfishness you see is completely subjective, it places no obligation on anyone else. > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
