THIRD POST OF FOUR

1. Evolution and trends

2. Trends and ethical principles derived from them

3.From facts to how things should be (THIS POST)

4. A worldview from this perspective
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I just don't see how this fact justifies the belief that looking to these trends for our morality is valid or would be effective. — ToothyMaw

How do you move from how things are to how things ought to be? — Banno

Even if "Science explains how things are and how events have unfolded over the past 4.6 billion years; these are facts" we cannot conclude from that alone how things ought to be. — Banno

I think what needs to be re-evaluated is this mentality itself. Clearly, the most moral thing is to prevent future people who suffer, but this is not following the dictates of evolution. And about these dictates of evolution, that is a complete fallacy (appeal to nature/naturalistic fallacy) to think that a sort of "law of nature" (evolution) is something we should act upon. — schopenhauer1

Ok, I thoroughly grant that to claim all this as some sort of definitive grounding for what ethics is and what ought to be would be fully sentimental, rather than rational. — javra

3.- FROM FACTS TO HOW THINGS OUGHT TO BE

Evolution will maintain its tendencies; it has always been so and will continue to be. These tendencies provide the framework within which we must act. As you rightly point out, I must justify how we move from the facts established by science to the realm of "ought."

Tendencies are an easily perceptible reality. To determine how the future ought to be, we must establish values, ethical principles, or ideals.

Several contemporary theories, in my view, justify this transition:

Moral Realism: As I explained in the previous post, ethical values are embedded within the very tendencies of evolution.

Ethical Constructivism: Criteria emerge from social agreements. I am convinced that, among people who have developed their consciousness (those who interpret their environment correctly, have delved into their own selves, and understand their place in the world) there would be a broad consensus, despite differing cultures or beliefs, that one cannot act against the tendencies of evolution. What model of humanity would they consider as a goal? It would probably be one where many of the previously outlined ethical principles converge.

Pragmatism: I believe the goal we should set, as it benefits the greatest number of people, could be defined as follows: the peaceful progress of a diverse and multicultural humanity.

In my opinion, the ethical principles derived from evolution trends remain consistent across all three perspectives.

What I am certain of is that humanity has no future if it acts against the tendencies of evolution. This includes actions such as: killing, destroying beauty, eliminating the diversity of ideas and cultures, prioritizing confrontation over cooperation, allowing power to override individual freedoms, maintaining socioeconomic inequalities, spreading misinformation to hinder intellectual development, and so on.

How do these ideas fit in with your belief that we can find the essence of the ethical principles and moral norms that humanity seeks to identify within these evolutionary trends? — Agree-to-Disagree

So, which ethical principle were you talking about here? — Corvus

Biological evolution is not inclusive for all. Individuals being weeded out of the gene pool by natural selection is one of the important trends of evolution. — wonderer1

You can correlate the evolved traits you assign to humans with those you find desirable, or ethical, all day, but I don't think it validates your thesis — ToothyMaw

Couldn’t we also talk about trends of destruction, suffering, and death? — J

I wonder if the reliance on 'evolutionary principles' here may be leaning into an idealization. — Wayfarer

Ethics, it seems to me, is sui generis, arising through the evolution of human beings but once ethics came to be it created its own driving forces, — Fire Ologist

I think you need to give a description of these trends in value-neutral terms, so we can decide for ourselves whether they must necessarily be beneficial for humanity. — J

SECOND POST OF FOUR

1. Evolution and trends
2. Trends and ethical principles derived from them (THIS POST)
3. From facts to how things should be
4. A worldview from this perspective

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2. TRENDS AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES DERIVED FROM THEM
Below are the main trends observed in evolution, along with some of the ethical principles they implicitly carry.

INCLINATION TOWARD LIFE
Despite the volatility of this trend, marked by epidemics, natural disasters, wars, etc., the Earth has evolved from no living beings to 8 billion people, plus countless animals and plants.

Ethical Principles: Respect for life. Preservation of habitats, both natural and artificial (urban planning). Peace and stability to allow life to thrive. Promotion of health and well-being.

DIVERSITY
Scientists estimate there may be between 8.7 and 10 million species, with many yet to be discovered. Once, Earth was a molten mass devoid of life. Clearly, maintaining diversity is a crucial trend.

Ethical Principles: Respect for the diversity of races, cultures, beliefs, opinions, and sexual orientations. Opposition to persecution or suppression of differing opinions. Coexistence in diversity, tolerance, and dialogue. Encouraging cooperation and minimizing confrontation.

LIFE IS FRAGILE AND EPHEMERAL
Life's brevity is a constant. We participate in evolution for a limited time, and no one is expected to be eternal.

Ethical Principles: Acceptance of death as a natural part of life. Embracing aging without undue attempts to prolong life artificially. Practicing humility over arrogance, recognizing the transience of our existence.

BALANCE
Evolution is a delicate balance that must be maintained. Disruptions can endanger life, as seen with climate change or migration.

Ethical Principles: Humans must address the imbalances they cause: climate change, resource overexploitation, water management, socioeconomic inequalities, balance food and population.

SOCIALIZATION
We’ve evolved from small, isolated tribes to large urban conglomerates. Coexistence is inevitable and must be managed.

Ethical Principles: Promote cooperation and harmonious coexistence. Balance individual rights with those of others. Develop mutual respect and empathy.

MUTUAL DEPENDENCE
Parallel to socialization, we’ve moved from self-sufficiency to total interdependence. Life today depends on the cooperation of countless anonymous individuals.

Ethical Principles: Respect for all humans and recognition of others’ dignity. Defense of others’ rights and sharing resources to sustain those who enable our lives. Prioritizing collective benefit over individual gain.

BEAUTY
Throughout evolution, the universe's manifestations have aligned with human perception, generating an objective beauty that few dispute. Human-created beauty, however, is subjective.

Ethical Principles: Respect and preserve beauty as it fosters peaceful coexistence. Avoid environmental degradation. Promote classical arts and conserve human-made beauty. Protect the planet’s natural splendor.

FREEDOM
A human attribute developed through evolution, partially seen in higher animals but reaching its zenith in humans. Our freedom even allows us to challenge life-giving trends. Yet, power often leads to the suppression of others’ freedoms.

Ethical Principles: No one should usurp another's freedom. Respect others' freedoms. Responsibility in voting, as politicians legislate individual freedoms. Demand regular elections. Ensure a fair judicial system.

INTELLIGENCE
Evolution has fostered intelligence, with signs in higher animals, and now manifests in eight billion human brains worldwide. However, evolution does not provide information for optimal individual intellectual functioning. Knowledge is produced by humans.

Ethical Principles: Organize to create and share knowledge (schools, universities). Knowledge dissemination reduces inequality and promotes adaptation. Developing intelligence is necessary but not sufficient for humanity’s well-being (must be combined with consciousness). Combat fake news as it disrupts intellectual processes.

CONSCIOUSNESS
This attribute allows humans to perceive their surroundings, understand themselves, and decide how to act. Its development is lifelong, setting humans apart from animals and fostering a holistic view of the cosmos, nature, and humanity. It complements and connects all other trends.

Ethical Principles: Educate and promote consciousness to improve awareness of the environment and others' needs. Every conscious being deserves respect, regardless of their limitations or circumstances. Individuals are accountable for their actions. Promote justice. Power should not rest with those lacking the consciousness to understand their environment or others' needs

I would like to thank you for your comments and the links you’ve shared, which help me identify weaknesses in my original post (OP) and demand greater precision. The OP is a text meant to outline a topic, but it is not the appropriate document for detailed arguments. I will attempt to address your observations in four posts:

1. Evolution and Trends (this post)
2. Trends and the Ethical Principles derived from them
3. From facts to what ought to be
4. Worldview from this perspective

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what exactly are you referring to when you say "evolution"? — I like sushi

but the general outlook you’ve outlined – this along with the Gaia hypothesis – can easily be found in keeping with notions such as that of an Anima Mundi. One in which a pre-Abrahamic notion of Logos pervades all that is – be it living or nonliving. — javra

Perhaps you need to say more about what an evolutionary trend is? — J

EVOLUTION AND TRENDS

One of the frequently discussed issues is that my understanding of evolution and trends is not clearly explained.

- Evolution refers to the journey our planet has undergone over 4.6 billion years, from the initial “incandescent ball” to our 21st century.

- Trend refers to the predominant direction or course that a phenomenon or behavior follows over time. Its parameters are duration, magnitude, and volatility.

By trends of evolution, I mean the sequence of events that have consistently followed the same direction throughout Earth’s evolution. I do not consider isolated events, such as the existence of dinosaurs, cosmic cataclysms, or the Neanderthals, to be trends. These phenomena are examples of the volatility within a trend.

I only regard as trends those of enormous magnitude or “force,” such as the tendency toward life or diversity. After the five cosmic cataclysms that wiped out 80-90% of species, life and diversity continued. This suggests that there are trends of enormous magnitude.

Even powerful trends exhibit volatility. Sometimes, a tsunami or an infection wipes out many lives, but this does not negate the existence of the trend. As some of you have noted, there are also destructive events and suffering, and this is true. However, these are not major trends; many are consequences of human actions contrary to evolution, while others are collateral effects. We cannot equate deaths caused by violence (a result of human action) with births (a trend toward life).

I believe there is a distinction between a trend and the mechanisms that enable evolution, such as natural selection or adaptation to the environment.

I have deliberately avoided delving into the deeper causes that might have generated these trends, as this is a matter of personal belief, a domain we must all respect. Setting aside these deeper causes allows people with different beliefs to freely interpret and draw conclusions about the facts explained by science.

Although I have no arguments to prove it, since it involves estimating the future, common sense leads me to believe that these trends will not change. Life will continue, living beings will keep dying, diversity will not give way to homogeneity, and so on. Long-standing, powerful trends are well-established and are unlikely to change.

So before there was life on earth, there was no evolutionary process on earth; evolution happens where living things happen. — Fire Ologist

I don’t see it the same way. Scientists explain that when the Earth began to cool, the 118 basic elements that came from the stars started combining to form molecules. One of these was water, while others were organic molecules essential for life. The Earth embarked on an evolutionary process that ultimately led to the emergence of life. I don’t know the causes, but we must stick to the facts. Evolution bagan before life

But life and evolution existed before people did. So for ethics to derive from or be bound to evolution, you have to show where ethics lived before people evolved — Fire Ologist

Your question about where ethics resided before life is well-posed, but I don’t know the answer—just as I don’t know where intelligence, life, or consciousness were, and yet no one doubts that all three exist. To progress in a complex line of reasoning like this, we cannot demand that everything be perfectly clear. Ultimately, we will need to assess whether the hypothesis makes sense, whether it explains what is happening in the world, and whether we can draw conclusions about how we, and the humanity, ought to act.

Evolution did not arise outside of or before life.
Then humans arose or evolved, and then ethics came to be. Ethics, it seems to me, is sui generis, arising through the evolution of human beings but once ethics came to be it created its own driving forces — Fire Ologist

An OP is necessarily limited in length. In a future post, I will explore some topics in greater depth.

The word you're looking for is "progress". People used to believe in it. — Srap Tasmaner

Yes, but progress with important qualifications: peaceful, inclusive for all, respecting human dignity, and without violating the trends of evolution.

However, I wonder if the reliance on 'evolutionary principles' here may be leaning into an idealization. It seems to attribute a kind of intentional moral guidance to evolutionary trends, which could be seen as filling the gap left by traditional creation myths. If we look at your Practical Examples, 'evolution' could almost be replaced with 'God' or 'the Creator,' and the text would still resonate, for instance, 'God has endowed us with... — Wayfarer

My approach is based on facts; in this way, I respect different personal beliefs while also proposing a starting platform (the facts explained by scientists) that can achieve broad consensus, regardless of individual beliefs

But I think it's worth questioning whether attributing ethical direction to natural processes risks an overly idealistic optimism. After all, evolutionary processes are not inherently moral; they produce life and diversity, but they also result in competition, predation, and extinction — Wayfarer

Of course, it is worth questioning whether attributing ethical content to natural evolution is correct or not. To me, it seems like the most solid foundation we have for ethical principles. What other foundations could be more solid than a trend that has persisted for millions of years?
I would say that competition, predation, and extinction are not primary trends; rather, they are mechanisms that drive evolution.

How do you move from how things are to how things ought to be? — Banno

Science explains how things are and how events have unfolded over the past 4.6 billion years; these are facts. Humans, through their free will, must decide how they want to proceed—"how things ought to be"—considering what has happened in the past and the far-reaching consequences of their choices. We can easily envision two possible scenarios: one in which humans align their decisions with evolutionary trends, leading to peaceful, balanced, and harmonious development; and another where these trends are opposed, resulting in death, freedom only for those in power, economic and social inequality, slavery, widespread pollution, erasure of beauty, etc.

2. The trends you’ve isolated are uniformly positive; they can be easily translated into familiar ethical precepts for humans. Isn’t that stacking the deck? Couldn’t we also talk about trends of destruction, suffering, and death? If we knew the end of Earth’s story, and it was one in which the positive trends prevailed, we might be justified in putting the current spotlight on them. But for all we know, the really significant trends are going to turn out to be the destructive ones. — J

It seems to me that your point addresses two different issues:

A. The Problem of Evil: As far as I know, no one has fully explained the existence of evil. In my opinion, most evil arises from human actions that go against evolutionary trends. I have doubts about the second source of evil (such as diseases and the collateral effects of nature), but I believe these could perhaps be explained as deviations from the evolutionary trends.

B.Destructive Trends: You state, “the really significant trends are going to turn out to be the destructive ones.” This, indeed, is a negative point of view, but it can be reframed positively if we recognize that human actions are not the same as evolutionary trends—they are simply the choices of free individuals who may act against long-standing trends. In this context, things begin to make sense. Evolutionary trends are beneficial for humanity, and our goal should be to align our actions with them. I believe we must acknowledge that our freedom is so vast that we have the power to decide how we want our world to end up.

1. Very few humans give much consideration to the flourishing of the species, and they need reasons – ethical reasons, presumably – why something so abstract should count more than their immediate practical concerns, which may be pursued both successfully and unethically — J

You are right, and it frightens me to think that what you describe reminds me of how our ancestors—the animals—behave: they show little concern for their peers and focused solely on immediate needs. We, as more sophisticated beings, have the capacity to understand and empathize with others. Our ancestors were not endowed with a fully developable consciousness.

I just don't see how this fact justifies the belief that looking to these trends for our morality is valid or would be effective. We live in a modern world that very much bucks the circumstances that may have formed human nature. — ToothyMaw

We, as humans, must accept the existence of a framework, defined by evolutionary trends, that cannot be changed. In our modern world, it is up to us to uncover and understand the circumstances that have shaped our human nature—this is knowledge. However, we can observe the consequences of attempting to go against this framework (such as violence, intolerance of diversity, climate change, etc.). While we, as free beings, have the power to destroy ourselves, we cannot alter the fundamental laws of this framework (ethic principles)

I don't see how certain evolutionary trends - even if they promote peaceful coexistence - are necessarily anything other than the consequences of nature. Is the peaceful coexistence to be found in evolutionary trends the desired end? Is that what we ought to seek? Because you appear to have no justification for that ought. — ToothyMaw

When we observe animals, we see the results of evolutionary trends in their purest form. They have not been interfered with by intelligent and free beings. When humans appear with our ability to accept or interfere with natural laws, we are faced with a choice: to follow the trends of evolution in pursuit of peaceful coexistence, or to go against them. We are free to choose the desired end. Where will we end up if we go against the trends?

I became a member of TPF a few days ago, and I apologize in advance if I make any mistakes in interacting with the forum.

I believe the only thing that certainly exists is experience itself. — Ourora Aureis

Ourora proposes that ethics should be based on personal experience. I agree that this is indeed a source of ethics and, in my opinion the primary one, as long as personal experience is enriched by knowledge developed by others. There are also other potential sources of ethics: philosophical thought, religions, or innate tendencies.

The experiences that serve as the basis for establishing our ethics cannot be reduced to our own life experiences alone, as these are necessarily limited. We must also incorporate other verifiable experiences, which leads us to consider the cumulative knowledge of science.

Scientists tell us that humans have existed for approximately 0.004% of the life of our planet. They also tell us that Earth began as a mass of incandescent matter, which has evolved into the beautiful, life-filled planet we know today. We do not know why things have evolved in this way, but we must accept that both topics are well-established facts.

At this point, before proceeding further, I pose two questions:

A/ Since we are debating ethical principles, which is no minor matter, is it reasonable to say that it is beneficial to incorporate scientific knowledge—information currently considered reliable—into our limited personal experience?

B/ Before continuing our discussion on the sources of ethical principles, is it worthwhile to consider what occurred on our planet before humans existed, that is, when only natural forces operated without human intervention?

If we agree on both points, I believe it is useful to examine the insights offered by the trends followed in Earth’s evolution, trends that will remain unchanged in the future. All of this is knowledge that we can incorporate into our personal experience before determining what we consider ethical.