While we do not have anything like a final, scientific understanding of human morality, it seems safe to say that raping and killing our neighbors is not one of its primary constituents.Sam Harris
Many people seem to think that morality depends for its existence on a phenomenon that is unaccountable in natural terms; for them, morality is a variety of magic.Sam Harris
The moment we admit that consciousness is the context in which the human construction of 'values' becomes possible, we must admit that there are facts to know about the nature of this context.Sam Harris
The failure to condemn suicide bombing is an astonishing moral lapse that reveals just how desperate the religious community has become in its defense of faith.Sam Harris
It is also conceivable that a science of morality could be used to justify specific instances of human suffering in the same way that medicine and public-health policy do at this moment.Sam Harris
I am arguing that science can, in principle, help us understand what we should do and should want – and, therefore, what other people should do and should want in order to live the best lives possible.Sam Harris
Just as there is no such thing as Christian physics or Muslim algebra, there can be no Christian or Muslim morality.Sam Harris
If we ever do develop a full account of the neurophysiological basis of human happiness, it seems reasonable to expect that certain truths about the nature of the mind will be bracketed beyond controversy.Sam Harris
In my view, the purpose of education should not merely be the transmission of culture but the cultivation of an ability to enjoy culture, art, science, and to profit from these critically.Sam Harris
Faith, when it does not represent an effort be scientifically honest, is nothing more than a willingness to murder other human beings by proxy.Sam Harris