Do animals have morality?

Question

Recent research suggests that non-human animals make moral choices, see http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/81-90.pdf

or

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/mg17523515.000-virtuous-nature.html.

Do you agree with this research or are you of the opinion that only humans have a sense of morality?

Answer 1

Given the depredations cause by whites around the world obviously the answer is no....

Answer 2

Yes, that is why the Archbishop of Canterbury (I've got all his Sermons) is known as the Primate of All England.

Answer 3

Morality is a pretty tricky concept to define, or at least to define with anything close to universal agreement.

Some people think that a moral choice has to be a freely made choice.  Either way, it seems clear that the reasons why a choice is made help determine whether morality is involved.

To quote the New Scientist link, "we didn't invent virtue- its origins are much more ancient than our own."  Well, that depends on what is meant by virtue.  Is virtue just acting morally, or is it a something that you have to think about... concentrate on?  Compare somebody who never thinks about stealing to somebody who is always tempted to steal but doesn't do it because s/he believes it to be immoral.

The New Scientist link mentions a lot of examples of (non-human) animals acting in ways that we would describe as virtuous.  But even worker ants are virtuous in a way-- they spend all their time collecting food for the colony as a whole.  Does that mean that they do it to be moral?  If they're just doing it because they're programmed to do it, is it a moral action or just a coincidence?

While I'll admit I only skimmed the .pdf, it seemed to make the point that some non-human animals adapted a sense of morality.  What they have certainly done is adapt a sense to act in such and such a way to benefit their group, not necessarily an individual.  Is that all that morality is?  

So I guess the answer to your question is this:  That depends on how narrowly or broadly you want to define morality.  Is it just how you act, or is it what you consciously decide to do?

P.S. After re-reading this answer I realized that it is a bit unfair to animals.  Maybe they have free will and actively choose what to do based on real beliefs.  If they do, though, neither of the links sufficiently proved it, so at very least the answer is "undetermined".  

Answer 4

Although some animals have a larger brain than humans, humans have a mind. The mind allows us the ability to think, reason, and create. Animals react on instinct, which is why they haven't changed, in the wild for millions of years.

Answer 5

If we enter into the animal world then we could readjust our normal human sense of morality to new levels, to the standard of mountain gorillas or chimpanzees for instance. Then we could begin to see as how intelligent they are, how dexterous they in the use of their tool, in hunting and in procreation and in their use of their natural habituate. This can be done, but the comparison between humans and animals draws to a close we realize the simplest of all facts related to the topic that it is only human who could break their moral codes, to act again the dictates of their nature, to venture into he unknown regions of whatever is behaviorally possible all in the name of curious experimentation, discovery and explorations. We can see this all too obvious in the matter of our daily living, we enjoy do what no one has done before and that unfortunately also involve do wrong things.

If animals have some sort of morality, as they certainly do in the light of the material your referenced, then they stick to its. They do not seek to break free from what is normal in their existence. We can see animals steeling meals from each other but what we never see is an animal caught up in moral scruple as if to steal or not to steal. This is normal for animals to kill for food, as the dictates of their morality instructs them that it would be animalistically immoral if they didn’t, something that they understand so well that it becomes their nature.

Then this is the point where we become confused about animals. The point that we see morality as something whose rules must not be broken, but break they do in our hands. Whereas, animals being incapable of doing any such damage to their morality manage to live all too naturally with their morality. When we see animals incapable of doing anything wrong we assume that they are devoid of morality, whereas the fact is that animal natural is animal morality.

Answer 6

Any function that values the betterment of the animal society over the interest of the indivdual animal is moral.

as examples -

Any animal which will work with other members of it's society towards a common goal rather than ignore the goal is moral.

Any animal which will stand guard over a group of animals rather than leave them alone to fend for themselves is moral  

Any mother looking after it's baby as opposed to deserting or killing it it is moral.

as soon as different actions are observed in the same situation in the same species then there is choice and the better action can be described as moral in my opinion-and that morality is how they increase the quality of their society. how they socially evolve.



So I would say social animals have the capacity to act morally, yes!