Ethics and Genes

[dealing with it]

Are ethical systems inherited through genes, or are they solely a matter of the environment? Are other species of animals ethical?

[Aniihya]

Are you really asking this? Well I told you my answer on Skype already. I doubt that ethics and morals can be passed on through genetics.

[dealing with it]

What about born sociopaths? Can't a person simply not be born with a moral compass? And on the other side of the spectrum, can a person be born hyper-moral?

[Aniihya]

If you weren't raised well or hadn't been taught ethics you might be a sociopath too. When you are born, you have nil morals or ethics. When you are an infant, everything revolves around you. In your childhood you learn morals and ethics and it develops further on into adulthood.

[rubytuesday]

I agree that morals and ethics are almost entirely influenced by environment, particularly in childhood/adolescent years. That being said, there are, and have been, people who experience a perfectly regular upbringing, in a perfectly conventional environment, that still prove themselves to be 'evil'. So whilst I don't think people are simply born 'good' or 'bad', I do think that sometimes there is an unpreventable aspect to whether or not someone possesses ethics and morals. Basically, some people are just born with a screw or two loose. :/

[dealing with it]

Let's say an animal (of any sort) is born with ethics. How would you tell the difference between it and one born without?