Joao asked:

What is the explanation of moral behaviour, and our ideas of good and evil?

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Seen from an objective point of view our ideas of good and evil are simply regulatory forces. How do
you imagine any society where cheating, stealing, destroying and rape are the common behaviour of
the people? Such a society could not last. Therefore even little children are advised not to lie, not to
steal, not to destroy. That's simple.

Animals cannot be "rational" in this way, but they don't live in anarchy either. They have by nature
restrictions to their behavior that are studied by behaviorists and ethologists. Look up any good book
on "sociobiology" or on "ethology". But since man has (nearly) no inborn instincts and restrictions any
more, culture has to replace nature in this case.

And in the same way a human language is infinitely much more flexible and expressive than any
"language" of signs and gestures among animals, so is cultural regulation of human behaviour
infinitely more flexible and expressive than any naturally enforced behaviour could be. This includes
the fact that culture often leads to "un-natural" behaviour. But this "un-natural" behaviour is nearly the
opposite of what some religious fanatics think it to be: Polygamy and homosexuality and suppression
of the weak by the strong are very common with apes and other animals. Even murder of relatives
has been observed in populations of free living chimpanzees in their natural African habitat (see the
books of Jane van Lawick-Goodall). So that all is not "un-natural". But no animal has ever been
observed in "mortifying the flesh" or fasting or committing suicide. There are sometimes dogs and
cats starving with grief if somebody dear to them is dead or missing. But that is not comparable to
"seppuku" ("hara-kiri") or to shooting oneself.

And in the same way as the ability to speech is an outcome of the physical and cognitive abilities of
man by his genetic equipment, so is the ability to be moral and to understand and to follow moral
rules. This is important! In part the ability to understand and to follow moral rules is a special aspect
of "intelligence" (look up Lawrence Kohlberg: Kohlberg Tutorial). But there is a phase mainly in the
first year of an infant, when the behavioral foundations on which the ability to understand and to
follow moral rules will grow later in life are prepared. When these foundations cannot be set up in the
proper way, a growing human will never be able to behave according to moral standards. And that's a
great tragedy.

Part of your question was: "What is the explanation of ... our ideas of good and evil? I have been
describing what their use and effect is. To explain where they come from in their cultural context is far
bigger task! Where do the christian ideas of "charity" and of "brother/ sisterhood" and of humility with
respect to god come from? That transcends all notions of "cheating, stealing, destroying and rape" or
even the "Ten Commandments". The same is true for the Jewish, the Islamic, the Buddhist, the
Hindu, the Confucian, the socialist, the liberal and other ethics. They all are defining and defending
values in the context of a special world-view. So "the explanation of .. our ideas of good and evil" has
to explain the origin and development of those world-views supporting special values. To do that by
sociological arguments was one of the great tasks that Max Weber defined for his profession. From a
more historical point of view Arnold Toynbee tried to do the same and from an economical one Marx
and Schumpeter did likewise. They all and the scholars of "cultural anthropology" followed in this the
pioneering ideas of Vico, Montesquieu, Herder and Hegel.

So I gave you some names and headwords you should look up in your dictionary or online using
"google.com", "m.galaxy.com" and other search engines and online dictionaries.

Hubertus Fremerey

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