All from chapter of Ecce Homo
Aggressive behavior and killing inhibition represent only one special case among many in which phylogenetically adapted behavior mechanisms are thrown out of balance by the rapid change wrought in human ecology and sociology by culture development. .......It is a widely held opinion, shared by some contemporary philosophers, that all human behavior patterns which served the welfare of the community, as opposed to that of the individual, are dictated by specifically human rational thought. Not only is this opinion erroneous, but the very opposite is true. If it were not for a rich endowment of social instincts, man could never have risen above the animal world. All specifically human faculties, the power of speech, cultural tradition, moral responsiblity, could have evolved only in a being which, before the very dawn of conceptual thinking, lived in a well organized communities. Our prehuman ancestor was indubitably as true a friend to his friend as a chimpanzee or even a dog, as tender and solicitous to the young of his community and as self-sacrificing in its defense, aeons before he developed conceptual thought and became aware of the consequences of his actions.
According to the Immanuel Kant's teachings on morality, it is human reason (Vernunft) alone which supplies the categorical imperative "thous halt" as an answer to responsible self-questioning concerning any possible consequences of a certain action. However, it is doubtful whether "reason" is the correct translation of Kant's use of the word "Vernunft", which also implies connotation of common sense and of understanding and appreciation of another "reasonable" being. For Kant it is self evident that one reasonable being cannot possibly want to hurt another. This unconscious acceptance of what he considered evident, in other words common sense, represents the chink in the great philospher's shining armorof pure rationality, through which emotion,......
....
....
Even the first compensatory function of moral responsibility, preventing the Australopithecines from destroying themselves with their first pebble tools, could not have been achieved without an instinctive appreciation of life and death....
......
.....
Quote stop.
Then the author started to describe the increase rate of social change, which our biological behavior adaptability have a hard time to catch on.
No comments:
Post a Comment