Atheist Ethics

As I explained in the previous blog, I am, or at least define myself, as an atheist.

Some people think that implies an absence of ethical or moral standards, but most understand that this notion is silly.  Still, I hear it often enough that maybe a few words about it are in order.

I may be an atheist, but I am also a human being.  The Buddhists have taught me that compassion for all sentient beings leads to peace of mind and happiness; Kant taught me never to "use" another person and to test actions based on whether I would be willing to allow anyone else to do the same; Socrates, via Plato, taught me that I should be careful in deciding that things are right or wrong, as in the end we don't know the ultimate consequences of what we do.  Regardless of all this, one does what is right because it is right and avoids doing what is wrong because it is wrong -- we do not really need a reason -- the difficult thing is not this but somehow discerning what is right and what is wrong.

One thing an atheist doesn't have is an authority, such as God, telling me what is right or wrong.  Is it so bad, this having to make my own choices, knowing that there is no deity handing out prizes and punishments?

Authority driven ethics suffers the often explained problem that I will here ask again -- does God decide on right and wrong, based on his power or something like that, or is it instead that in his perfection and wisdom he just tells us, his already knowing?  The problem with the first possibility is, can God tell us to do evil?  The problem with the second is that if God cannot tell us to do evil, or always chooses the good, then doesn't that mean that good and evil are something separate from God, and indeed his superior?

So then do I just follow my conscience and do what feels right?  I think largely that is a good thing -- do what your conscience tells you -- but this also suffers the problem of authority driven ethics, mainly in the issue of whether or not my conscience has got it right and not must making me feel better about doing something wrong.

What is our conscience?  Where does it come from?  Well of course this is pretty obvious if you note that the details of conscience varies by culture and over time.  Today in most of the world slavery is considered a serious evil, but through history it didn't seem to bother most people.  Today teenage sex, especially with full adults, is strictly off limits, leading in some countries to bouts of hysteria, but classical cultures (at least much of Greece) thought it an excellent thing, at least for boys.  (Don't misunderstand -- I disapprove too as I think being introduced to sex too young spoils a lot of things for the guy as he grows up, but I don't think it the horror one sees in the United States).

So conscience (aka "how we feel about it") is a reasonably good guide but not perfect.  I think it is okay so long as we do it "mindfully"-- that is, we give it some conscious consideration whether or not it meets independent tests.  Mindfulness, of course, is a virtue to be exercised in everything, not just ethical decisions.

In the end, of course, each situation has to be considered on its own, with the objective of doing the most possible good and the least possible harm (pretty much what everyone who has thought about it concludes).  We do what we do with compassion and wisdom (charity is good but can do harm if it creates dependency).  It ain't that hard, at least most of the time.