Biologizing Ethics

The time has come for ethics to be removed from the hands of preachers, mystics, philosophers and biologized. Animals have brains to survive in uncertain, threatening environment. Conscious sentience is required when dealing with situations that require a non stereotyped response. The development of brain power / intelligence was the decisive force in the evolutionary process, because it confers adaptive advantages.

However there is a general theory of deceit and self deception based on evolutionary logic and is broadly applied to all species. The kind of ethics religions glorify as values can be despised as slave morality and this lie creeps from the mouths of politicians and preachers. I am the truth, or I am the state, the people.

Self deception sits squarely on the lap of psychology, but our daily life is also colored by ignorance and self deceit, especially in politics. This topic Hs negative connotations because it is about falsehood lies and deception. We project onto others traits that belong to us also. When you attend a buffet banquet, at one end you see juicy bacon or meat sizzling on a grill and at the other end healthy salads. After a little hesitation you choose the bacon, ham and meat fully aware of the artery clogging implications and there is no rationale.

Social scientists have to learn from these if they want to understand a realistic model of human behavior. Triver’s in his seminal work “Deceit and self deception” attempts to construct a theory for deception. He argues that we paint a distorted picture of the world so that we might easily get our way with others. We play down our failings, inflate our achievements and rationalize our mistakes.

The struggle against stupidity is a continuous one within each of us, the struggle for clear logic and honest introspection and discussion is the tragic story of our lives. In such a case truth or goodness is an essentially meaningless term. It is like an intellectual astringent that would enable us to do some long overdue spiritual, ethical and liturgical cleansing.