10 Commandments for Middle-Earth?

[The Saucepan Man]

... do not view Middle Earth in terms of evolution

I totally agree. Evolution is totally incompatible with the deveopment of ME. We have it first hand from the Silmarillion how Arda was created and the races awoke. Clealry, none of them evolved. They came into being as they were.

The point that I am making is that, since Elves, Men and Dwarves organised themselves into societies, they needed some kind of moral code by which to live, otherwise their societies would have disintegrated. We are never told of any moral code being handed down by Eru or the Valar. So, I suspect that, upon awakening, Elves, Dwarves and Men very quickly worked out the kinds of standards by which they would need to live in order for their societies to thrive.