Are moral laws discovered or created?

108 posts / 0 new
Last post
truthseeker17's picture
Are moral laws discovered or created?

Once, in a debate with William Lane Craig, atheist Lawrence Krauss stated that science has informed us that homosexuality is not morally wrong. That issue aside, I wondered how many would agree with his basic premises. Would you say science enables us to discover the truth about moral laws? Or are moral laws something that we created and that evolve and change with us?

If we discover morality through science, it would seem that the moral laws are in place independently of our awareness of them, in which case I have to question who they are directed towards or how they got there. Or how we would even know that... And if they are discovered through science, I'd have to ask how that occurs. What sorts of experiments should be carried out to test morality and how are we to interpret the data?

If, on the other hand, morals are a construct of the complex human mind and are therefore subject to change and evolution, then how are we to choose the proper understanding of morality? If two people differ, on what basis do we judge one man's subjective understanding of morality against another's? Should we trust the overall majority of the human population, or a select group?

Subscription Note: 

Choosing to subscribe to this topic will automatically register you for email notifications for comments and updates on this thread.

Email notifications will be sent out daily by default unless specified otherwise on your account which you can edit by going to your userpage here and clicking on the subscriptions tab.

Nutmeg's picture
Moral laws are created by
watchman's picture
In my opinion ....
truthseeker17's picture
So you would argue that there
Jeff Vella Leone's picture
You have to understand that
Nyarlathotep's picture
ImagoDei - "So you would
Travis Hedglin's picture
"Would you say science
Stu. K.'s picture
I swear I got a little...
Nutmeg's picture
There is a consensus emerging
truthseeker17's picture
First off, thanks for the
Travis Hedglin's picture
"I'm sensing that it
Nutmeg's picture
There's a zoopark not far
Jeff Vella Leone's picture
Actually animals tend to be
Nutmeg's picture
Damn right, I wouldn't go
Jeff Vella Leone's picture
I agree they are the most
Nutmeg's picture
Back to the morality question
Vincent Paul Tran1's picture
Morality - anything and
truthseeker17's picture
"Theists often define god as
Travis Hedglin's picture
"First, I grant you that a
truthseeker17's picture
"Then I fail to see how
Travis Hedglin's picture
"I suppose in a way this is
truthseeker17's picture
"There are a lot of laws in
Travis Hedglin's picture
"Again, true words. Worse yet
truthseeker17's picture
"I'm honestly not too
Travis Hedglin's picture
"I would certainly hope to
truthseeker17's picture
"It is not unknown
Travis Hedglin's picture
"Your assumption that your
Nyarlathotep's picture
ImagoDei" - (B) It is also
Nyarlathotep's picture
ImagoDei - "Your assumption
truthseeker17's picture
"Except that It has allowed
Travis Hedglin's picture
"Yes, I will grant that.

Pages

Donating = Loving

Heart Icon

Bringing you atheist articles and building active godless communities takes hundreds of hours and resources each month. If you find any joy or stimulation at Atheist Republic, please consider becoming a Supporting Member with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of tea and a good dinner.

Or make a one-time donation in any amount.