Nice article, thanks for posting it.

I dont have a good knowledge of Judaism, so my question is what excatly does Hokhma mean? I know beside it it says wisdom, but would that involve experience also?

 

It really should be transliterated as khokhma, but westerners may find difficulty beginning a word with that "kh" sound. It means wisdom, but that can be gained through experience (nisayon).

 

How do we know this to be true?

 

Its a jungle out there; survival of the fittest. When you want to eat you kill when you want to mate you kill the young so the female comes into heat. Of course to lions its moral because its who they are and what they do. Croc's eat whatever moves; they are our whatever is available moralist. Do they think about the right or wrongness of the act? I think not; they're hungry they see something to eat and then catch it and consume.:shifty::wink2:

 

Frankly, its a jungle here to. In fact, Capitalism is the prime example of survival of the fittest. It so permeates our culture and politics, it really is our form of government. Forget, democracy, republic, Communist, whatever...we are a Capitalist government. The only difference between us and the animal kingdom is currency. Seriously, you should watch Orangutan Island.

There are these orangs who've been rescued. There are then put on an island to learn the ways of the wild. The problem is, that orangs are naturally solitary. Now they are put into a position to form a community...and they do. Complete with power struggles, politics, love, sharing, problem solving, learning, etc. Watch it with an unbiased eye, it may change your perception of man and animal.

 

Oh, I agree with you 100%, man's base drives are animal driven yet it is in our nature to not be solitary which means we are always at war within our selves as to which way to go. IMHO if you take money out of the equation we become more natural in our treatment of eachother. Think of us as a pride of Lions:wink2:

 

Exactly, but, that doesn't mean there aren't morals in nature, there are, and they're not that different than man's morals.

 

That is true in a sense. It is said that Dolphins are the only other mammal that enjoys sex just for its self and not for the expressed drive to reproduce. To consider anyother animal having the ability to think about the right or wrongness of something has to be there if only to make sure that all mothers feel a responsibility to their offspring. I guess you could call it a base moral instinct.:wink2:

 

Absolutely. Not only the maternal instinct, but also the community or herd instinct. Even the lowly ant will defend its colony till the death. Dogs have empathy. So do most higher apes. Elephants mourn their dead, not just when they die, but the family will incorporate where the elephant died into their yearly wandering, and stop and mourn. One of my dogs does a victory lap around the couch if he catches the ball. He does this every time, and never when he doesn't catch it.

So yes, animals have senses of right and wrong, community, empathy, joy and even compassion.