Every human individual is brought up with the idea that they should strive to achieve. As such, everyone learns to work towards avoiding bad to achieve an element of goodness. As such, if every single individual was to strive towards the good, the human race will ultimately move towards an enlightened destiny. As such, good and evil become moral absolutes. According to evolutionists, human society evolved not in line with a preexisting design but as an attempt to adjust and respond to immediate circumstances that faced their members. In other words, they hold that there is no master plan. We trudge along, constantly adapting to dynamic conditions of existence. Some of the factors that compel us to change are external to us while others have been caused by human beings, as the consequences of their decisions. The major question that humanity is confronted with is whether there is any destiny at all for the human race, an ideal state that the human race ought to attain.
This is not a simple question. It is often assumed that every journey has a destination and there is often an assurance whenever there is someone to guide us in the course of our journeys. The idea of being alone and stumbling on a long path through time often elicits some unpleasant feelings, much of which is frightening. Is this the condition of the human race? Evolution has been hailed by many people as a powerful theory that has explained much of what humans comprehend about the world. However, where does it lead humanity and where will it leave it? Is there anything like a divine authority? Is it the case that ethics, morality, and other values are just but mental constructs?
Assuming they are mental constructs, then, they have as well evolved with the other aspects of human culture (Okatch, 2007). Those that have been thought of as representing absolute truths have stood the test of time. They exist today because they have guaranteed the survival of the human race, mediating whenever conflict arises within an individual, between an individual and their groups, and between groups. They may be said to be the social lubricants that necessitate the cooperation of individuals towards a common objective.
Ethical principles guide the behavior of individuals and for the most part, are the concepts of right and wrong. Their nature is general and easily comprehended by every human individual. All laws are derived from ethics and are answerable to it. With this regard, it is important to look at the evolution of ethical principles and their role in contemporary society. Emerging human needs shape ethical principles. No higher-end or goal does exist. Rather, ethical concerns arise as a response to the condition of the human race. Some adaptations seem to bring more positive results than others in the sense that they provide for better ways of approaching human problems. In the long run, the more successful adaptations survive hence leading to the evolution of human society into larger, specialized, and more successful groups.
New ethical principles that address emerging issues are readily accepted when they are seen to emanate logically from the existing accepted ones. This is the usual but not necessarily the way they come into being. Some of the new challenges that face humanity today such as nuclear annihilation or breakthroughs in biotechnology cannot be countered by brushing off and reinterpreting the precepts of the earlier generations.
According to Carl Coon, when society sees ethics as human constructs, radically new ethical principles are likely to favor more than when it sees them have been handed over from a divine being (Coon, 2001). According to him, ethical principles are subject to revision.
From history, humanity has been forced to learn the hard way, adopting new rules of behavior while replacing the outdated behaviors of the old as they die off. However, technological advances have accelerated, and but the basic rules of survival have remained the same. Everyone has to adapt and one apparent fact is that every individual being on and on the planet earth has an infinite ability to survive. However, for the human race, the extent to which they accomplish this is dependent upon how well they employ ethics in dealing with their everyday issues referred to here as survival dynamics.
The technology of ethics is an individual entity and as such, it exists to provide the individual with the tools he heeds to survive. As such, it exists to guide an individual and to increase his chances of surviving within the ever-dynamic context of society. In the present state, the human race seems to be caught between twisting ethical considerations to further the perceived continuity or let civilization crumble for men to be drowned in savagery. Because man is inherently inclined towards a greater material achievement, the whole issue of ethics has been pushed into the backseat and human selfish instincts have taken the front seat.
Ethical concern consists of rationality towards the highest echelons of survival for the individual, race, community, and the entire mankind. With this regard, ethical concerns become the highest point of human reason. The greatest weapon that man possesses is thus his capacity for reasoning. The greatest and highest ethical level with thus be the long-term concepts of survival with minimized destructions along the path of adjusting to social, cultural, scientific, and political dynamism. The ultimate solution to any problem that humanity is faced with would be that which brings the greatest benefit for the greatest number of dynamics. On the other hand, the worst solution is that which would bring about the greatest harm for the greatest number of dynamics. Any activity that has brought about minimal survival to the least number of dynamics and compromised the survival of the greatest number of individuals can in the least be classified as rational activities.
The present state of the human race is far from what can be achieved as it has pushed ethical concerns away. Human beings are far beyond reasonable conduct. There are no optimum solutions to the problems that confront humanity today. The actions of men go contrary to the ideals and the best interests of the greatest majority. Ethical considerations are today left for those considered to be spiritually advanced, a field that has been left for the faint-hearted and the materially disillusioned. It beats logic for man to develop weapons capable of destroying every life form on the planet then entrust them in the hands of mentally unstable individuals. This is not a survival strategy.
It seems like the political leaders are leading the human race to its final destiny. There is so much behind the depression in the United States that revolves around ethics than economics. Human beings are more concerned with their material well-being than ever before, creating a system that is bound to see a handful of individuals immersed in extreme wealth as more than a billion individuals languish in dire poverty. Ethics is slowly losing its place in the hearts of men as they slowly plunge into darkness characterized by interstate animosity and individual selfishness. What is good is only good if it satisfies one’s desires.
References
Coon, C. (2001) Human Destiny. Springer.
Okatch, A. (2007). Evolution of Ethics. Nairobi: University Publishers.