Amorality In A Variety Of Animal Species.

This is a thread about rape, killing, stealing, deception, infanticide, cannibalism, genocide, and all other violent behaviors or deceits found within all other animal species.


A long time ago in my youth I created a similar thread at ILP just like this one as a sort of mental exercise of explaining the fictional structure of human morality and ethics.

Today I plan on resurrecting this idea only to make it a more indepth project of mine than it was in the past.

I will start with a couple of animal species today and keep on adding more overtime.


On the subject of infanticide: Lions

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Quote :

Pride takeover battles are often violent leading to severe injury or death of the losing lions.

It is to the successful male’s reproductive advantage to kill the suckling cubs of the defeated males. A nursing lioness that loses her cubs will come back into estrous within 2 to 3 weeks. The normal time between births is 2 years, which is the typical time for a male to rule a pride. Therefore, by killing all unweaned cubs at the time of pride takeover, males can ensure that they have some opportunity to father offspring of females who would otherwise not be available to them during their tenure as pride leaders.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I suggest amending the thread title to "Immorality in Animal Species".

apaosha wrote:

I suggest amending the thread title to "Immorality in Animal Species".

Immorality suggests morality or ethics are real and not imaginative fantasy.

How about amorality instead?

If you like. Just make it shorter.

apaosha wrote:

If you like. Just make it shorter.

Done.

Although having said that, wouldn't immorality be more appropriate?

You are after all suggesting that what conventional morality considers immoral is in fact commonplace among animals, thereby deconstructing conventional morality as an artificial fiction.

Amorality as applied to animals suggests to me that animals cannot be considered to effect conventional human morality, therefore your point is undermined.

On the subject of rape: Chimpanzees

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Quote :

Chimpanzee female doesn't like to mate her maternal brothers. Even when those males court elaborately, with shaking branches and rude stares and proud postures, female chimpanzees refuse their brothers. Normally, the female's reluctance to mate with her brother marks the end of it. But occasionally a brother can't stand being denied. She resists and avoids him. He becomes enraged. He chases and, using his greater size and strength, beats her. She screams and then rushes away and hides. He finds her and attacks again. He pounds and hits and holds her down, and the rape consummates. (2,5)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Quote :

References: 2. Richard Wrangham, Dale Peterson. Demonic males: Apes and the origins of human violence.

5. Hate and evolutionary psychology

apaosha wrote:

Although having said that, wouldn't immorality be more appropriate?

You are after all suggesting that what conventional morality considers immoral is in fact commonplace among animals, thereby deconstructing conventional morality as an artificial fiction.

Amorality as applied to animals suggests to me that animals cannot be considered to effect conventional human morality, therefore your point is undermined.

I would argue that human beings morality and ethics is completely made up if not delicious fictional fantasies where in all reality the amorality within animals is constantly present in human beings who have elaborate systematizations of denial on that issue.

For me saying something is immoral is a way of endorsing or acknowledging morality and ethics something of which I do not wish to do.

This is why I chose amorality. What do you think on this?

Morality is a human concept meant to establish particular social behavior as being preferable to others.

Morality simply denotes what is acceptable.
Immorality denotes what is to be considered unacceptable.

Outside human constructs there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral act.
There is only constructive or destructive, successful or unsuccessful acts.

The vilification of rape, infanticide, genocide, the glorification of the ten commandments, are all part of a methodology meant to facilitate and promote particular behaviors, by restricting and punishing others.

You people are thoroughly retarded.

Poison IV wrote:

You people are thoroughly retarded.

Oh? How so darling?

Quote :

Satyr: Morality is a human concept meant to establish particular social behavior as being preferable to others.

Morality simply denotes what is acceptable.
Immorality denotes what is to be considered unacceptable.

Outside human constructs there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral act.
There is only constructive or destructive, successful or unsuccessful acts.

The vilification of rape, infanticide, genocide, the glorification of the ten commandments, are all part of a methodology meant to facilitate and promote particular behaviors, by restricting and punishing others.

Agreed. If I don't hold such beliefs to my own self then they are not true at all.

That which I don't believe aren't real.

If I can deny "god" why can't I deny morals and ethics? In the scheme of things I find that I can.

Quote :

Outside human constructs there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral act.
There is only constructive or destructive, successful or unsuccessful acts.

That right there is nature beyond humanity's arrogance or ignorance.

On the subject of cannibalism: The praying mantis.



[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Quote :

Sexual cannibalism is common among mantises in captivity, and under some circumstances may also be observed in the field. The female may start feeding by biting off the male’s head (as they do with regular prey), and if mating had begun, the male’s movements may become even more vigorous in its delivery of sperm. Early researchers thought that because copulatory movement is controlled by a ganglion in the abdomen, not the head, removal of the male’s head was a reproductive strategy by females to enhance fertilisation while obtaining sustenance. Later, this behavior appeared to be an artifact of intrusive laboratory observation. Whether the behavior in the field is natural, or also the result of distractions caused by the human observer, remains controversial.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

On the subject of rape: Elephant Seals


[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Quote :

Male elephant seals fight violently about their territory. They are also very aggressive toward the female. They rape pregnant females as well as the ones which just have given birth. When she resists, they bite the female or slam it with their huge body. They also squash pups to death.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]