Religion
In reply to the discussion: Where do you atheists get your morals? [View all]AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)What book or tract gives rise to the idea that Atheism itself DOES lay out morals, rules, etc?
I am aware of none. I don't spend my time trying to prove there is no 'atheist' tract, however badly reasoned or written out there, anywhere in the world, that might support your line of logic.
I can give pointers to many philosophies and sciences that attempt to explain not only why we non-believers have morals, but why we MUST have them, but none of them are predicated upon, or are issued from the concept of Atheism. Sociology and evolution can tell us much about why we have innate morals, but none of that information is predicated upon Atheism. In fact, intelligent design creationists will quickly point out that it is 'compatible' with their brand of nonsense. We can also dig into why 'believers' fail so consistently to follow their supposedly supernaturally issued moral rules, placebo effects, and all that.
This is the whole of Atheism(TM):
atheism (ˈeɪ?ɪˌɪzəm)
n
rejection of belief in God or gods
[C16: from French athéisme, from Greek atheos godless, from a- 1 + theos god]
That's it. That's the whole 'doctrine' right there. It tells me nothing about how to derive my morals for interacting with society. From there, I can delve into secular humanism, which offers some, or first principles, which is the branch of philosophy I follow, or you can plow into philosophical biology, evolutionary ethics, or other avenues. The only thing Atheism tells me, in the subject of source morals, is that any avenue of theism, to a supernatural law giver, is closed to me. (or rather, not 'closed', but non-existent)
So again, where Rug said 'it is silent on this subject', that is accurate. What was inaccurate was, that wasn't a valid answer to the question posed in the OP. The question posed in the OP was 'Where do atheists get their morals?', which has no singular answer. There are many source materials one can reference. In a sense, the same is true of a 'believer'; many different sources. Though the question doesn't flow smoothly when flip it around and ask them, because if you happen to be talking to a christian, he or she isn't likely to give any credence or consideration to, say, moral commandments issued by allah, and vice versa.