Humanities 1100
01/15/13
We Are Our Values When we think of our values, we think of what is important to us in our live. For example security independence, wisdom, success, kindness, pleasure. Each of us holds numerous values with varying degrees of importance. A particular value may be very important to people, but unimportant to another. Our live values are often sourced from our systems. It is from these that we select the principles which rule our lives and our behaviors. The hierarchy of human values often addresses survival first and foremost. This is at the foundational of priorities in general. However with modern western civilization these needs are not often pressing as far as general global population is concerned. That is not to say that many humans are not faced with how to meet basic survival needs on a daily bases, only that this would not be considered the norm for most cultures. There is a saying that is relevant to your inquiry as to the comparison to human values and its relationship with morality the sayings goes the point is that without our survival needs being met moral concerns are not a priority. So that in a natural state humans are no more morally inclined than other primates. But there is strong evidence indicating that morality stems from social instincts and learned social behavior. Where basic needs are met humans can elevate moral attitudes, and consequently human values tend to become more abstract due to the increased social stability that results. As moral values elevate the leisure available to pursue abstract values increases. By abstract values I mean the arts, and sciences. The benefit is that such cultures will usually benefit from these abstract values in that ever more efficient methods are found for securing the basic hierarchy of values and moral attitudes elevate, abstract values become more of a priority and so on and so forth. The point I am trying to make here is that it depends upon how closely you want to look at the social dynamic. If we examine things in a historical and broad context we get an overview suggesting that human values and morality are linked. As more basic needs are met for larger portions of the populous the more time is spent on abstract values like morality, arts, and sciences. Really it depends on what perspective you are in when you seek to define these terms. Values is very flexible word but the at the root of the issue what is really being asked is what can you live without and what does it take to continue living. The human animal is arguably the most complex creature and many of its values are abstract. But there is little doubt that if returned to a natural state then we demonstrate values that are consistent with all other living creatures, that being basic survival. In short I would say that at