Morality's Biological Nature

Morality's Biological Nature: Implications for the Attribution of "Good" and "Evil".

"A man who has no assured and ever present belief in the existence of a personal God or of a future existence with retribution and reward, can have for his rule of life, as far as I can see, only to follow those impulses and instincts which are the strongest or which seem to him the best ones. . . . If he acts for the good of others, he will receive the approbation of his fellow men and gain the love of those with whom he lives." - Charles Darwin

In my last paper "Serial Killers: Just trying to feel normal, it's not my fault" (4) I addressed the question as to whether biology can make us murderers. In my paper I catalogued multiple instances in which biology seems to consistently differ between 'normal' people and individuals who have been dubbed the most immoral, inhuman and evil predators of society. Though I found many biological differences between the normal brain and the murderer's brain, it was not necessarily explained that 'morality' is a common, biologically based aspect of human behavior. The nature of my prior paper was to ascertain whether there is a difference in our brain from that of a killer, but in this paper I explore the biological function of 'morality' and its natural occurrence in the catalogue of human behaviors. Discussing 'morality' as a phenomenon that is inherent in humans will then allow the further exploration of the implications of deviation from this 'norm'. Can these individuals be labeled as 'evil' and be held accountable for their behavior?

As the former paper posed implications pertaining to the 'accountability' of a murderer, this paper proposes that these individuals have strayed from the underlying...

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3)Brain: The neurobiology of morals. , A small, applicable article.

http://www.nature.com/news/1999/991021/full/991021-6.html;jsessionid=DC80A23979EBD5D46DCA819DFA12AC26

4)Serial Killers: Just trying to feel normal, it's not my fault, My last paper.

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web2/Solano.html

5) Origins of Human Mind Revisited, A short article that touched upon some new ideas.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/brainyapes980511.html

6) To the objectives for Good Natured., Commentary upon de Waal's book from a college class.

http://mlabar.swu.edu/Animal%20Behavior/Comments%20on%20Good%20Natured.htm

7) The Impact of Psychological Research on Christian Beliefs and Practices , A source of challenges, insights and reminders.

http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/cis/jeeves/lecture3.html