The scientifically minded should be skeptical of the popular morality of impartiality.
By Dr. Ben Bayer
Fellow and Director of Content
Ayn Rand Institute
“Not only do we need no God to explain the universe and life. God stands out in the universe as the most glaring of all superfluous sore thumbs.”
This aphorism summarizes the line of thinking that leads Richard Dawkins to his atheism. Many like Dawkins who advocate scientific naturalism find no observations that require the explanation of a divine super mind; they question whether a miraculous deity could fit into a universe governed by natural law. They use this razor mercilessly to slash away anything they deem “spooky” from their worldview, from ectoplasm to élan vital.
But naturalists don’t use their razor consistently enough. They have a blind spot toward a whole swath of beliefs that deserves the same skepticism, beliefs that concern entities just as superfluous and spooky as ghosts and gods. What’s surprising is how commonplace these beliefs may seem: they are some of the most popular, allegedly secular beliefs about ethics.
Once we exorcise morality of these ghostly remnants of religion’s past, we’ll see this leaves more than enough room for new secular moral ideals to flourish.
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