282 Self and the Phenomenon of Life
b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity “9x6”road to achieve personal happiness. Peace and harmony for all mankind
is the ultimate outcome of a virtuous society. It teaches the equivalence
of the Golden Rule — do not do unto others what you do not want
others do unto you — without invoking a supernatural lawgiver.
12.10.6 Buddhist view
It stresses compassion not just for human beings, but also for all sentient
living things. The reward for a virtuous life is to advance to a higher
level of existence in the next cycle of transmigration. As is true with
other Indian thoughts, the merits of good action are accumulated in the
Karma system, taken as an impersonal cosmic principle.
What strikes me from these multiple views is not their differences
but their similarities. There are glaring commonalities among peoples
of varied racial origin, ethnicity, and culture, no matter which corner
of the Earth they inhabit, and these are: respect for life, love and com-
passion, mutual help, consideration for others, avoidance of extremes
of action, and the principle of reciprocity — all of which are require-
ments for the unity of a society. It should not come as a surprise that
groups with these moral norms were favored by natural selection and
survived the test of time. Successful groups were shaped by evolution to
have these characters deeply ingrained in their genome and expressed
as inborn conscience. It is therefore obvious that morality can be ade-
quately explained by secular reasoning alone, without having to invoke
the command from a supreme, supernatural being. Even the utilitarian
view does not contradict the other theories, because a virtuous society
is one that will deliver happiness to the people. Happiness, of course, is
a catchy word. What is it really? In concordance with the theme of this
book, I define happiness as the attainment of the goals of self: being able
to exist and act, to freely express, to perpetuate, and to procreate without
hindrance.
Morality stems from the relationship between individuals and the
group, the balance between self-interest and group interest. A pro-social