"The essence of who we are does not lie in our strengths. It does not lie in our talents, our accomplishments, or the things we do well. The core of our being lies in our values".
The most basic human value must always have been life itself. It must have been the first and oldest basic human value, for today we still see throughout the whole of nature, any living being is in a continuous struggle for survival.
However, respect, is the most basic social standard, from which all other social standards can be derived...
Footnote:
Essentially, we’ll never truly be able to distinguish between “right” and “wrong” actions. At any given time in history, however, philosophers, theologians, and politicians will claim to have discovered the best way to evaluate human actions and establish the most righteous code of conduct. But it’s never that easy. Life is far too messy and complicated for there to be anything like a universal morality or an absolutist ethics. The Golden Rule is great (the idea that you should treat others as you would like them to treat you), but it disregards moral autonomy and leaves no room for the imposition of justice (such as jailing criminals), and can even be used to justify oppression. Moreover, it’s a highly simplified rule of thumb that doesn’t provision for more complex scenarios. For example, should the few be spared to save the many? Who has more moral worth; a human baby or a full-grown great ape? And as neuroscientists have shown, morality is not only a culturally-ingrained thing, it’s also a part of our psychologies. At best, we can only say that morality is normative, while acknowledging that our sense of right and wrong will change over time.
