Theoretical context: Hobbes verses Aristotle
Why is there good and bad? The reason, it seems, that there is
such a defined distinction between what's good and what is bad
is that there is no other species in the world that is aware of
itself more than people. We are, as Robin Fox says, "…obviously
a part of nature and in particular (we are) part of the animal
world; yet (we are) set apart from nature by the very fact of
knowing (we are) a part of it." Because we are aware we have tried
to separate ourselves from nature in an effort to define self.
We do that by defining boundaries
There has yet to be a culture that had language and didn't have
religion or a religion with out a language, the two go hand and
hand as far as civilization is concerned. Religion takes the idea
of labeling what's good and bad to the next step. Religion is
a way for people to explain things that are beyond their control.
The same way the designation of good and bad was supposed to order
chaos is the same way religion put order to the unknown. The institutions
of religion seem to have been the first effort of people to document
what is good or bad. There is no doubt that before there was religion
or language there were rules and things that were considered good
or bad but once religion was established and the unspoken rules
articulated, morality was placed on a different level. Now there
was documentation of what was supposed to be right for everyone.
Our argument is that these early documents or organized beliefs
only restated what would be inherently bad things without such
institutions. Aristotle would argue that because every culture
has had a religion, religion must be a part of human nature and
in so being it must be natural.
It is true that sometimes what's considered good or bad goes against
the natural behavior of people but I would say that some of the
sources that establish what is appropriate behavior have been
warped and abused in a way that has evolved with the passage of
time. Examples of this would be arbitrary laws that only succeed
in restricting human behavior, in particularly things like the
institution of marriage. It is argued, however, that in general
when we say something is good or bad we are just labeling the
things that we were born to know anyway regardless of the culture
or time we live in. For example things like incest and murder
are considered bad things in most circumstances cross culturally.
The two arguments of this dilemma will, for now, be labeled Hobbes
verses Aristotle. Hobbes says that in order to obtain order in
the chaotic system of nature we must make rules or a social contract,
which would determine what is good and what is bad. This would
mean that good and bad are functioning on a purely cultural basis.
The Aristotle led argument states that man is by nature a social
animal. The basis of this argument is that society is a part of
nature and it is completely natural for humans to have rules and
because of this having distinctions between good and bad. By these
designations people are not trying to control nature but expressing
it. Robin Fox says that, "(We) are social animals and (we) will
therefore live in a civil state."
It is hard to tell whether there is a good or bad (a.k.a. morality)
is in the animal kingdom. If we look at our close relatives' chimps
we see behaviors that appear to be guilt, punishment, and regret
all of which assume some sort of value system. But with out the
awareness and organization of "rules" as we have it is hard to
discern.
Methodology:
In order to sufficiently explore the boundaries of our topic we
have to look at both the sociological and sociobiological resources.
It is hard to integrate the two fields because the two perspectives
have not been very well explored in relation to one another.
In order to see what the commonly held beliefs of this community
are we have decided to pass around a survey that will allow us
to determine what types of things people consider good. Are these
things in conflict with what evolution might select for? And is
there a pattern that is easy to follow as to what is good and
what is bad and how that is determined. The following questions
will be on our survey:
2. Name one or more evil people/characters.
3. Name one or more good people/characters
4. What was the most evil thing you have ever done?
5. What was the most good you have ever done? Did it turn out
to be good for just you or for another?
6. If you were alone in a room with a $100 dollar bill would you
take it if there were no ramifications? Y/N
7. Do you have a belief system? Explain briefly.
8. Who taught you these beliefs?
9. About how old were you when you learned what was good and what
was bad?
10. If you had to live in isolation with a person form a completely
different culture for a year which of the following rules would
be implied? No murder, No rape, Respect territory, No stealing,
Reciprocal altruism
11. What are some other rules?
At the end of this survey we intend to have a better insight into
where our beliefs come from and if in fact they are inherent.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wright, G. H. Von (Georg Henrik). The varieties of goodness. Humanities Press: New York, London, 1963.
Schwartz, Barry, The battle for human nature : science, morality,
and modern life 1st ed.
Norton: New York, 1986.
Rosenthal, Abigail L. A good look at evil. Temple University Press: Philadelphia, 1987.
Wilson, Edward Osborne On human nature. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1978.
Gregory, Michael S.. Silvers, Anita. Sociobiology and human nature
1st ed. Jossey-Bass:
San Francisco, 1978.
Lopreato, Joseph. Human nature & biocultural evolution Allen &
Unwin: London, Boston,1984.
Fox, Robin. The search for society : quest for a biosocial science and morality Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, N.J., 1989.
Fetzer, James H., Sociobiology and epistemology D. Reidel Pub.
Co.: Dordrecht, Boston, Hingham, MA,
Taylor, Richard, Good and evil: a new direction Macmillan: New
York, 1970.
Suarez, Francisco, Disputationes metaphysicae Munchen Philosophia
Verlag: Hamden, Wien, 1989.
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