The most common view among scientists and philosophers is that moral truth does NOT exist – only moral opinion. Our ethical "absolutes" merely reflect our emotions or attitudes of approval or disapproval. Darwinian fundamentalists and evolutionary psychologists argue that any behavior we call moral is really just a selfish gene expressing itself. Self-styled "realists" equate morality with expediency. This course examines the phenomenon of morality: its origin and development, how we arrive at our personal morality, why systems of morality may be in fact immoral, and whether the trajectory of the universe implies or supports any particular ethical stance.
