Magic-Al2

I have been looking to derive a set of ethics or morals from reason rather than religion. I have just taken a few formative steps but I'd like some input. I have posted under this forum because it seems like the best place to go for a moralistic discussion. I do not wish to argue about religious faith. I also do not want to hear an explanation of how morals can't exist without god. This is being written first with the assumption that none of the religions are inspired by god but are human creations. This post is not meant to provoke, if you are religious please ignore it, I do not wish to argue about the existence of god.

Like all animals, we want things. Without desire we cannot make progress. One has to want a faster way to plow before designing a better one, or want shelter to build a house, or want sex to have a baby. Desires are to be embraced, regulated rather than suppressed. All other animals are entirely driven by the instinctual desires. We have taken this world as ours because we can regulate our desires with reason. Religions have given instruction on how to guide our desires with reason but these are not ideal. Religion has given us the drive and guidance to get as far as we have. It also has spawned unspeakable horrors, most importantly the religions are likely untrue.

What is needed is a system of morals and codes derived from both satisfying needs and building a workable honest and progressive society. From a scientific viewpoint morals are a human construction with no external validation. There is no universal truth as far as how humans are supposed to act, that being the case it would be wise to apply reason. Society is so large that we all must rely on each other for survival. To work together most efficiently we need a common code of ethics. These concepts are my first thoughts on the matter.

My ethical code as derived from human desires and reason:

Out of desire for survival, I will not interfere with others survival unless it threatens mine.

Out of desire for economic stability, I will not interfere with others stability unless they threaten mine.

Out of desire to live my life they way I want to, I will respect the lifestyles of others.

Out of desire to have my idea's heard fairly, I will hear the ideas of others fairly.

Out of desire to satisfy natural human curiosity and an inborn ability for logic I will endeavor to train and build my reason through study of the sciences.

Out of desire to procreate and to ensure the best survival for my children I want to help to maintain a society that I would want to live in beyond my death.

Out of desire for objective truth I will use reason and experiment as the sole judge of validity.

You may notice some of these maxims have stipulations such as "unless it threatens mine" Limiting survival based maxims is unfortunate but is necessitated by natural selection, the desire to come out on top. If Bob is planning on killing me, I must eliminate him to ensure my survival. If He robs me, I no longer have issues about robbing to him to ensure my economic stability. Listening to others idea's and respecting different cultures isn't limited like survival issues because perhaps if I listen to Bob ideas fairly he will be more inclined to listen to me, likewise with respect. If I let Bob kill me I am merely dead. There are other logical reasons to respect other cultures. They have each formed in response to different environmental pressures and each have their own strengths. It is not possible to hold one culture above another objectively and therefore it is illogical make oneself a judge. The same goes for ideas, none of us are perfect and even in science nothing can be 100%.

My ethics are most likely flawed and certainly incomplete, I would like additions, changes, deletions and anything that might make the ethics more reasonable.