Imagist
Worshipper of Athe.
I've been an agnostic for about three years, and an atheist for about a year now. I've worked through most of my issues with Christianity and now feel that I am well-reasoned enough to defend my beliefs thoroughly.
However, I still have an issue with how to define my ethics. Simply copying all from religion except its belief in god makes no sense, since religions often encourage terrible crimes against humanity. David Sloane Wilson argues that one can draw ethics from evolution, but that seems as arbitrary a source of belief as any. Utilitarianism and ethical egoism allow horrible atrocities in situations of disparate power distribution. Kantian deontology is dissatisfying.
Right now I'm experimenting with a mixture of Lockean deontology (people have rights; protect them) and ethical altruism (ethical action is action that helps others). But those aren't really any less arbitrary than evolutionary ethics.
However, I still have an issue with how to define my ethics. Simply copying all from religion except its belief in god makes no sense, since religions often encourage terrible crimes against humanity. David Sloane Wilson argues that one can draw ethics from evolution, but that seems as arbitrary a source of belief as any. Utilitarianism and ethical egoism allow horrible atrocities in situations of disparate power distribution. Kantian deontology is dissatisfying.
Right now I'm experimenting with a mixture of Lockean deontology (people have rights; protect them) and ethical altruism (ethical action is action that helps others). But those aren't really any less arbitrary than evolutionary ethics.