Is this logically sound?
Man has evolved the ability to empathize with other humans and creatures because empathy is beneficial to society. One could even say that it is required for society to form, because without it, humans would act similar to animals.
Obviously, society dominates animalism—a species that has developed society is able to form “supercreatures” (clans, tribes, nations, etc) which greatly enhance its ability to survive and expand throughout the world. In other words, a species that has developed society is able to out-compete species that have not, so “survival of the fittest” applies.
The ability to empathize is beneficial to society because it allows humans to cooperate rather than focus only on their base instincts and desires. Empathy causes us to imagine the suffering and pleasure that others experience. Because empathy causes us to feel the suffering of others, it motivates us to minimize or prevent their suffering so that we can in turn minimize our own suffering. The converse is true for pleasure. It is this desire to benefit others that allows humans to cooperate.
“Bad” and “evil” are based on empathy as well. Behavior that causes a person to suffer because of his empathy is considered “bad”. As a result, the person will create a moral code that dictates what behavior is “bad” or “good” based on what feelings each behavior causes him to empathize. In this way, the moral code is a facility to reduce the suffering of the individual.
When people do something “bad” and do not think of it as wrong, something has overcome their ability to empathize. In most cases, it is overpowered by motivators such as greed or lust. These other desires are no more “good” or “evil” than empathy itself, since they evolved in a similar manner. Humans need these basic motivators to survive in the world, for the reasons of self and species preservation.
However, other humans that witness or indirectly experience this “bad” behavior suffer because of their own empathy. As a result, they will try to prevent the behavior in order to minimize their own suffering, perhaps by imprisoning the “bad” person. When someone lacks empathy altogether, they lack morality. Sociopaths and psychopaths are the best example of this.
Laws arose from empathy. For example, the universal laws “do not kill” and “do not steal” were a result of people feeling bad when they encountered these behaviors. Other more complex laws and regulations arise from logic based on benefiting society. The motivation to create these laws came from the motivation to benefit others, which in turn comes from empathy.
