Traditional notions of morality are confused, and observation of the way people act does show that they are poor explanations, so I think we are in perfect agreement there. (I do mean “notion” among thinkers, not among average people who haven’t given much though to such things.) Your second paragraph isn’t in conflict with my statement that morality is traditionally understood to be in some sense objectively true and objectively binding on us, and that it would be just as true and just as binding if we had evolved very differently.
It’s a different topic altogether to consider to whom we have moral obligations (or who should be treated in ways constrained by our morality). And it’s another topic again to consider what types of beings are able to participate (or are obligated to participate in) the moral system. I wasn’t touching on either of these last two topics.
All I’m saying is that I believe that what morality actually is for each of us in our daily lives is a result of what worked for our ancestors, and that is all it is. I.e., there is no objective morality and there is no ONE TRUE WAY. You can never say “reason demands that you must do …” or “you are morally obligated by reality itself to …” without first making some assumptions that are themselves not justifiable (the axioms that we have as a result of evolution). Anything you build on that foundational bedrock is contingent and not necessary.
Traditional notions of morality are confused, and observation of the way people act does show that they are poor explanations, so I think we are in perfect agreement there. (I do mean “notion” among thinkers, not among average people who haven’t given much though to such things.) Your second paragraph isn’t in conflict with my statement that morality is traditionally understood to be in some sense objectively true and objectively binding on us, and that it would be just as true and just as binding if we had evolved very differently.
It’s a different topic altogether to consider to whom we have moral obligations (or who should be treated in ways constrained by our morality). And it’s another topic again to consider what types of beings are able to participate (or are obligated to participate in) the moral system. I wasn’t touching on either of these last two topics.
All I’m saying is that I believe that what morality actually is for each of us in our daily lives is a result of what worked for our ancestors, and that is all it is. I.e., there is no objective morality and there is no ONE TRUE WAY. You can never say “reason demands that you must do …” or “you are morally obligated by reality itself to …” without first making some assumptions that are themselves not justifiable (the axioms that we have as a result of evolution). Anything you build on that foundational bedrock is contingent and not necessary.