Philosophy

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by GrayMouser
But that still doen't give the motive for being 'good'- after all, it's just as easy to argue that if this life is all we've got, then the most important thing is to enjoy yourself as much as possible, and not worry about anybody else.

The "motive" is natural. Being a complete hedonist and not caring about anyone else at all is, I would dare say, more detrimental to passing on your lineage in the long run then being either altruistic when its best or selfish when its best. I dont see it as an either or issue really.

Really, the religious notion of being good in this life so that we gain the benefits in the "next life" can be seen in decent parallel with the naturalistic idea that if you are "good" such that it benefits your gene pool in this life then your "next life" (your decedents who hold some of your genes) will have a better chance of passing them on in turn. Curious how that works eh...