Hi all, new here :) Thought I'd kick things off with an oldie but a goodie: Objective Morality.

Let me start with a simple, fairly well-accepted axiom: Humans are by nature social creatures. For both our physical and mental well-being, we tend to come together. As individuals we can be fairly weak, but together we are hands down the most intelligent and strongest species on the planet. Nor are we by any stretch of the imagination the only social creature. We can look at any number of social creatures and observe how they work together - the collective whole benefiting from this cohesion.

Of course, there are inevitably conflicts between the individual's interests and the collective interest. If an individual in a social group ceases to care about others in the group such that they simply start acting in their own selfish interest, then that compromises the social structure. It may lead to divisions between the individual and others. It may possibly lead to deadly fights. That individual may still benefit from the group, but the group is hindered by this individual's selfishness. If left unchecked, this could lead others to similarly acting in their own self interest to the exclusion of the interests of others - resulting in a very poorly functioning society, if not its complete collapse. And we need not restrict this to individual's - we could similarly be speaking of groups and sub-communities within the larger society in question.

It is vital first and foremost, then, that social creatures know the rules of their society. It is key to the well-being of both the individual and the collective. This knowledge is partly instinctual and partly learned. On the one hand, it is instinctual in that by understanding our own basic needs, desires, and emotions that we may understand the same of others. This allows individuals to empathize with others and act to help them in their time of need. It also helps them to know when their actions would hurt others.

On the other hand, societies can develop knowledge and traditions beyond the base needs and desires of the body. This is, of course, especially the case with humans - but is also true of animals and of human-animal families. We all teach our dogs not to relieve themselves on the carpet. Wolves are taught/establish a pecking order. etc.

The second most important thing is for a society to be able to recognize and address individuals and sub-communities that have to some degree decided to act selfishly - compromising the well-being of others and of the larger society. This could take the form of a slap on the wrist, to ex-communication, to death. In the best case, these rogue individuals can be corrected and brought back into the fold. In the worst case, they split off as a rival society that the original society must now skirmish against for the foreseeable future. This requires not just knowing the rules of society, but understanding the relative importance of those rules and the weight of breaking them - and responding to them accordingly.

This becomes all the more prevalent in more intelligent species - where the individuals are ever more capable of thinking by and for themselves. The more intelligent the individual, the more they will question the rules of their society and if those rules are really fair and beneficial to them as an individual. And this is a fair line of questioning: for the whole purpose of being part of a society is that it is better for our well-being than being on our own. Of course, we need not look hard in human history to find gross humanitarian abuses where certain groups and individuals suffered far more than they benefited from their societies - such as in American Slavery. Such individuals may ultimately decide as a result that the norms of their society are not worth upholding in part or in whole, and choose to live a subversive lifestyle or abandon the society altogether.

Based upon all this I would argue there is, in fact, Objective Morality - and that it is rooted in our nature as intelligent social creatures. Additionally, there are two broad polarizing issues: the collective & the individual. While individual greed and selfishness and infighting within the group are negatives that threaten the collective, social rules that place an unreasonable burden upon individuals/groups in the name of the collective can be equally damaging to social cohesion. It must be remembered that society exists for the sake of the people first, rather than people for society.

Individual greed and selfishness leads to things like murder, theft, rape, etc. However it is the collective greed and selfishness, especially of the upper classes who stand to profit, that leads to things like slavery, usury, severe poverty in a prosperous nation, death from easily curable diseases, needless wars, and Trump...

In addition to the broad evils of greed and selfishness, hate similarly harms society. This is especially the case for irrational hate - like hate for anyone different from you in belief, language, skin color, nation, etc. Such hate forms deep divides within society, infighting, and suffering. Hate is very difficult heal. Hate doesn't forgive, nor does it repent. Hate is largely irrational - going beyond mere justified anger, to a deep seated emotional state that becomes a part of the individual and the collective. Hate is a poison that directly conflicts with the establishment of a peaceful, unified society.

On the other hand, when individuals act with the well-being of others in mind, and when the collective acts with the well-being of the individual in mind, then you have a truly good society that will flourish - where the individual and the collective can live good lives.

This then is Objective Morality, as per our nature as intelligent social beings: Don't hate irrationally - forming unnecessary divisions and hostility between people. Don't act selfishly/greedily - unjustly harming others for your own gain. Consider the impact your actions have on others, and act with their well-being in mind. Strive for peace and mutual prosperity. When people live like this, all else equal, then we individually and collectively can live happy lives with prosperous societies. ie, love others as yourself.

Saints may go above and beyond this, of course, putting aside their own well-being for the sake of others. Here maybe found the true Zenith of society, that elusive Utopia: where everyone is willing to sacrifice of themselves - even their own life - for the sake of other individuals and for the collective good.