Ethics Debate: Does Human Exceptionalism Rely on God?
I have long argued that human exceptionalism-the unique and intrinsic moral importance and value of us-does not depend on the existence of the soul or reliance on God. Many of the differences between humans and all other known life are moral in nature, not merely biological.
Hence, hawks have exceptional eyesight, but that is merely biological, as is our bipedalism. On the other hand, we (as just one example), are-whether due to random evolution, creation, of intelligent design-the only known moral agents. It is in our very natures to so be, and those of us who aren't are either too immature for the moral natures to have fully expressed, or are injured or disabled in some capacity. That is a distinction with a moral difference. Ref. Source 3