Stephen Jay Gould Nonmoral Nature

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What Does Gould Mean By The Term `Nonmoral`

Nonmoral might be a word that Stephen Jay Gould used to be able to define or at least describe the acts of nature . Indeed in his article `Nonmoral Nature ' he stressed that the possibility of the existence of a Universal Good outweighs every detailed morality that now exist . He further argued that this Universal Good might still be incomprehensible for us humans , but this cannot prove its inexistence as well . As the article would like to point into the

`beneficence of God among his creation ' it takes into consideration the specific acts in nature that proves to be ruthless , selfish and evil . Such details were manifested in the relationship between lion and lambs , ichneumon larvae preying on caterpillars and so on . The term is also used by Gould to refer to the state wherein the concepts of right and the wrong do not exist . What exists is the universal design that proves to move towards goodness that is necessary for the existence of balance in nature . Such balance is necessary for all other creature to continue their existence . In the specific example of ichneumon and caterpillar , predation is necessary for the ichneumon to continue , such primary rule in nature might defy the usual conception of God as benevolent creator however by making nature nonmoral it also create human eating other living things also nonmoral . Thus nonmoral might also represent that morality especially human perception of morality does not apply or is not applicable to nature . Nonmoral simply suggest that the human laws of ethics does not and cannot be applied to nature in general . Since humans continue to look at the whole creation of God as a basis for his benevolence , such defense can only be adequate to explain that humans cannot understand the goodness in the specific details because they are still ignorant of God 's purpose . To call the nature 's actions as evil , as can be concluded from Gould 's article , is wrong since such term is not applicable for nature

Works Cited

Gould , S . J "Nonmoral Nature " 91 (February 1982 : 19-26 Retrieved on March 29 , 2008 , from http /www .stephenjaygould .org /library /gould_nonmoral .html

Shermer , M , The Science of Good and Evil : Why People Cheat , Gossip Care , Share , and Follow the Golden Rule . Holt backs (2004

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