Naturalistic Ethics
Defining "naturalistic ethics," or "ethical naturalism" is no easy task. Many ethical systems are naturalist in that they seek to derive their authority from some fact of human nature or the surrounding world. The only thing that all naturalist systems have in common is they believe that recourse to God, platonic forms or other metaphysical schema are unnecessary for ethical life. Man will make ethics for man.
Other People Are Reading
-
Science
-
In some sense, most naturalist systems hold that the scientific mind is best suited to study human behavior. Overwhelmingly, the naturalist school holds that human beings are no different from other parts of nature, and act through various impulses of the mind, reacting to external stimuli such as pleasure or pain. Therefore, scientific technique can be used to situate these impulses for society, nature and the planet as a whole.
Economics
-
Many naturalistic schools are economic in nature. Both socialism and capitalism take their root from naturalist assumptions about man in nature. Socialism holds that mankind is naturally evolving into a cooperative creature as his technology develops, giving him greater power over nature and his environment. Only when oppressive oligarchies are overthrown can man finally come into his own, creating or re-creating the world as he sees fit. Capitalism begins from nearly identical assumptions, except to say that competition is necessary to prod people into working, producing and innovating. Both economic schools hold that man's purpose is to control nature, including his own, through production.
-
Nihilism
-
Naturalism holds that, metaphysically speaking, there are no moral facts. All moral "facts" derive from experience. The nihilist school is an extreme form of naturalism in that it holds that humanity is free to create what it wants, when it wants, regardless of the social strictures surrounding it. Nihilism is committed to the total destruction of all conventional norms as ultimately deriving from structures of religious authority. Nihilism is a large school of thought that can comprise socialism, anarchism and capitalism in the sense that each model seeks to break down all boundaries through production and innovation without regard to traditional moral ideas or institutions.
Nietzschianism
-
Another major naturalist school comes from Friedrich Nietzsche, writing at the end of the 19th century. His central thesis is that, like nihilism, all conventions should be overthrown. However, Nietzsche holds that the rebuilding of culture will be done by those who have been naturally endowed with superior strength, genius and drive, the "overmen" who will re-create humanity in their own image. The "overmen" take the place of God -- the world is their creation, humanity their product.
-
