Reply #40: Yes, there is evidence, but maybe not evidence to support what you propose. [View All]

[stopbush]

There have been studies in animal behavior, anthropology and psychology that indicate that morals are not limited to homo sapiens (ie: rational beings to whom a god could appeal and influence in determining what is moral and what is immoral).

Some of this is discussed in the book The Evolution of Morality by Richard Joyce (MIT Press, 2006). On edit: hmm. I just found a review of this book by none other than Peter Singer. I wonder if he's the same guy under discussion in this thread. Here: http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=6383

You might also explore the studies in primate behavior done by Frans de Waal. His books, Primates and Philosophers, Our Inner Ape and Good natured: the origins of right and wrong in humans and other animals are a good staring point.

More recently, there's Marc Hauser's Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong.

If you can't be bothered to read the books, then this NYTs article gives an overview and mentions the men above and their research:

Scientist Finds the Beginnings of Morality in Primate Behavior

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/science/20moral.html?_r=

I don't know what you mean by "human dignity." I don't think any of the above authors postulate that our morals evolved from a sense of dignity. Rather, it was a survival instinct that developed beyond a survival instinct.

Please don't try to frame the argument by tossing human dignity into the mix. That's not what any evolutionary biologist that I know of is proposing. Trying to set grounds rules that science doesn't embrace on this subject is like saying evolution didn't happen because no one's ever seen a butterfly evolve into an elephant in a single step. In both cases, the anti-evolution side is floating a canard that science doesn't propose.