Meno asked Socrates:
Socrates, can you tell me, whether virtue is acquired by teaching or by practice; or, whether it comes to humans by nature, or in what other way?(Plato, Meno)
The debate about the origins of our moral beliefs is far from being a new one. At one end there has been the argument that human’s moral emotions are a product of a solid genetic basis that developed through our species’ evolutionary history. And, at the other, there is the notion that rather, moral understanding is obtained by means of experience and observation. I trust you understand that things more often than not are not so black and white. Especially when it comes to psychological processes.
This is why, I am particularly drawn to the latter part of Meno’s query: ‘or, in what other way?’
Chimps act Unjustly & Toddlers act Fairly
If instead of Socrates, Meno had asked that question to my 7 year-old nephew, he would have replied that definitely human virtue originates from the earache you get from your mum and dad. That is because the day he brought home his friend’s kinder-egg-surprise and confessed that his friend didn’t know about it, it’s a day he will not forget (his mum and dad are prone to overreacting 😐). According to this perspective the development of morality is then understood to be a consequence of acquired behaviours as well as the internalization of social values and standards [1]. This is certainly one of the correct ways of making sense of where our moral values come from. After all, our cultures are also determiners of what is right and wrong, what is moral and immoral. So much so that what is morally acceptable in culture ‘A’ might not be in culture ‘B’.
Further, humans have an innate ability to be encultured to a level that truly set us apart from other animals. By experiencing competition and cooperation, for instance, children develop a sense of fairness and justice [2]. Something which comparative research has shown through two and three year-old children’s demonstration of discomfort when receiving a greater reward than that of a friend who helped them to complete a shared task. While chimpanzees … well, let’s just say they are not that inclined to share succulent grapes with their collaborators 3. And, please note, it seems that whenever sharing takes place among them it follows the hierarchical organization of the group 4. It looks like fairness in the chimp world is a bit of a no, no! 🙊
Does this mean, then, that there is ‘something’ within us humans that gives rise to morality?
Not a Blank Slate
It appears so. Even more when we learn that babies as young as five-months old, subsequent to watching a short puppet show, when asked to choose between the good, helpful character or the mean, selfish one, overwhelmingly choose the former 5, 6. This is curious because at this age humans have not really experienced cooperation and competition. Following this line of thought social psychologist Johnathan Haidt, then, proposes that humans are born with ‘intuitive ethics’ which stem from psychological foundations that give rise to morality. One of the foundations (out of a total five) proposed by Haidt is Fairness / Cheating, which is at the basis of reciprocal altruism 7. You know how the saying goes … ‘you scratch my back, I will scratch yours’. That’s only fair …
Something that reminds me of an experience I had with a small child at the airport a couple of years ago. As I was sitting at the coffee bar’s table she came out of nowhere and handed her soft toy to me, as I received it she immediately pointed at my water bottle. Her young father was already coming towards us. I subtly remarked she might be thirsty (he might have been an inexperienced dad. You never know 😊). More interesting than my personal example, however, are the findings of the comparative study I mentioned earlier, which further showed that not only do three year-olds demonstrate discomfort when receiving more rewards than their peers, but they will only evenly share the marbles with their counterparts if they equally worked together throughout the activity to complete the shared task 8.
Now, you may be asking yourself what kind of practical information we can draw from such studies. My answer to you is: babies and toddlers are equipped with a great capacity to make accurate judgements about characters. Quite remarkable, right? So, we better watch our judgments and actions to set good examples to them, and gain their interest.
Are we born virtuous and then corrupted by the social world?
You might think that way when you see that children go from willing to share their toys with other infants, adults and even with strangers from when they are around eight-months old 9 to limiting this sort of behaviour mostly to friends, as they get older 10. Nevertheless, an alternative way of interpreting this turn of events is by understanding that rather than corrupted, our innate moral judgements become more sophisticated. This is how we, humans, evolve from mostly doing what we are told to do during our childhood years to developing our own set of (ideally, unbiased) moral codes later on in life 11. Research has revealed that as children reach six years of age they learn that aspects like age and height are not relevant when judging peoples’ actions 12. Also, at this age, children refuse to obey parents’ orders that involve stealing or hurting someone else [13].
The reality is that we are born with both selfish and competitive, as well as cooperative and fair predispositions, which have all proved to be adaptive during the challenges of our species’ evolutionary past 14. These tendencies are, then, further shaped, enhanced and/or supressed by the specific contexts under which we grow up, from our home environment to the large sociocultural world we belong to.
Meno would’ve been pleased to know :)
Reference List:
1 Skinner, B.F (1971) Beyond Freedom and Dignity, New York, Knopf.
2 Piaget, J. (1997) [1932]) The Moral Judgement of the Child, New York, The Free Press.
3,8 Collaboration encourages equal sharing in children, but not in chimpanzees.
4 Engineering cooperation in chimpanzees: Tolerance constraints on cooperation.
5 How infants and toddlers react to antisocial others.
6 Can babies tell right from wrong?
7,14 ‘Intuitive ethics’: how innately prepared intuitions generate culturally variable virtues.
9 Effects of familiarity and maternal attention on infant peer relations.
10 Preschool children’s food sharing with friends and acquaintances.
11 Moral stage and moralization: the cognitive developmental approach.
12 Distributive justice development: cross-cultural, contextual, and longitudinal evaluations.
13 Damon, W. (1977) The social world of the child, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
It has been a long time since I last posted here, and it felt really good writing again for the Steemit platform. My absence took much, much longer than I had initially planned (for various reasons). But now, I am healthy, have some spare time, am very eager to re-join the community and blog, and comment and … :)
Thank you ever so much for taking a few minutes of your time to read my post! I hope you have enjoyed it.
I wish you all a wonderful week ahead 😊🎔
I have missed this voice! The most hearty welcome back!
As I read this piece, I kept thinking of the extremes, of people who engage in horrible acts--death camps, killing fields. And the other extreme, people who volunteer to tend the wounded in war zones, or Ebola patients in the midst of an epidemic.
Is there a little bit of each extreme in all of us? I remember one of your earlier essays where you refer to the Salem Witch Trials, and jealousy, which seems to grow out of the innate tendency to compare.
We are complicated creatures, aren't we?
I can see the adaptive utility in innate altruism--a sense of fair play. Humans are social, and this quality enhances the survival of the group. On the other hand, competition, the desire to prevail, enhances the survival of the individual (and indirectly, the group).
And there you have it, with characteristic @abigail-dantes eloquence. Much food for thought. Questions answered and questions raised. A stimulating discussion. Looking forward to reading some of the references cited in your article.
Hope you have been well, Abigail. That is paramount. Enjoy the time with your family. That is next to paramount.
With appreciation, and affection,
Your friend from across the continents, AG
@agmoore ❤ 😊
Yep, we are complicated (and fascinating)!
And here you are inspiring me once again. This time, to write yet another post (specifically because of this question: Is there a little bit of each extreme in all of us?). Which I believe would be more appropriate to be shared before the self-harm one (considering it would be a good follow-up to the morality topic). Like this, and I hope you don't mind, I am going to address your reflections only in my next publication. I feel a really bit naughty right now :D
I have been well my dear, thank you for asking. The past months were challenging indeed, but also incredibly rewarding. I am very much looking forward to my summer holiday with my family. Thank you for your thoughtful wishes :)
I hope you had a nice time pet-sitting yesterday. Animals are a beautiful source of joy.
Ps: I was equally happy and impressed by you recalling my post about envy!
Lots of love from sunny, breezy Portugal.
I wish you and all your loved ones a wonderful, peaceful weekend!
Thank you for those generous words! 😇
I love the pets, and they return the sentiment. Great bargain there 🙂
When planning a blog, I often stray from my original intention. Usually a question arises that I want answered. These are more fun to write and usually more engaging for the reader. Better when we follow our interests. Both blogs are going to hit it out of the ball park, whenever you do publish them.
Have fun, in sunny, breezy Portugal.❤
Love,
AG
Welcome back. It's been a long time. That's was an interesting and very well put together article. Well done.
I personally lean more so towards the learned social behavior side of things. It makes me think of the experiments conducted by the behavioral psychologist Albert Banduras (i.e. Bobo the clown experiments). Children who watched an adult beat up the clown mimicked the behavior. It does make sense to me intuitively though that there would be an innate aspect to this as well. Humans have evolved to be a social species so it makes sense that they would have built in cooperative mechanisms. It's interesting how Ape studies typically involve chimpanzee but rarely ever Bonobos. My understanding is that bonobos are much more cooperative and altruistic then their chimp counterparts and that they often engage in sharing and equality based practices.
Anyway, great article as always. Glad to have you back!
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@leaky20, I only learnt last year that bonobos are as much like us genetically as are chimpazees. I have become increasingly interested in them ever since. Particularly after learning, just as you mentioned, that they are much, much more peaceful than those crazy, selfish chimps :) . If I am not mistaken their societies are also matriarchal (don't quote me on this, though!)
Badura's Bobo Doll study is a very relevant one in the context of this discussion! The question I feel compelled to raise here is : would those children copy the violent behavior towards a living being? The bobo doll elicits no compassionate feelings. Schopenhauer stated that compassion is at the basis of morality. I agree with it :) Anyhow, I suppose we will never know. Such experiment will never be conducted 😛
It is so great to hear from you @leaky20. Thank you very much for taking the time to read and leave me this wonderful, insightful comment. I trust you and your wife are both doing great. I wish you both a peaceful, happy summer!
All the best,
Abigail
That's a good question to consider. I do not have an answer but it's certainly a good point.
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😊
Firstly, welcome back Abigail!
I'm very happy to see new content from yourself - the Steem blockchain is a more enlightened place with you around.
The nature/nurture discussion has always been interesting to me, and it makes sense that we would arrive with many or the traits, seen as both good and bad, and then have the people close to us influence which come to the fore more than others.
Are you planning a once a week blog or intending to pick up the pace a little
Either way, glad you are back :)
Have a nice afternoon
Asher
My dearest Asher ! Thank you for your warm welcome and kind, kind words. It feels wonderful to be back and already receive a comment from you 😊
You said it all. I have recently read the following statement on a a paper about the extent of parents' influence on their child's upbringing (by Cohen):
Your observation reminded of it! This is something that becomes even clearer in children with special needs (e.g. syndromes, cognitive impairments etc...).
I have posted today because I couldn't wait to return to the community! But, on this coming Sunday my family are coming from Brazil to spend a couple of weeks with us. A nice summer holiday together. I doubt I will have time to be on Steemit during those days! When they leave (mid-July) though ... definitely once a week again! 😍
Much love to you and your mum from rainy Portugal!
All the best.
My pleasure and again, great to have you back.
That is a concise and poignant quote - straight to the heart of the matter.
Enjoy your family time and I look forward to your next piece.
Thank you!
Asher
I absolutely agree with this. I was surprised to know that many things that are looked upon as "abomination" by our culture are welcomed in some other places. After all, culture is the people's way if life, and like you said, it shows us what is good and bad.
However, in my own opinion, something can be culturally right, but it might not be moral in the remote sense. This is why I, sometimes, tend to think that morality is without recourse to culture (my opinion though; I might be wrong).
I've asked myself this same question. Sometimes you'll hear this phrase "as innocent as a child", making people to think that humans are born without corruption and the social world is to be blamed for our corruption.
This statement has provided the answers to the questions I've been asking myself.
Welcome back Abbey. Missed your posts so much
Sammi, my dear 😊
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. I wish you knew how much I enjoy reading your insights and views on topics such as this.
Your reflection on culture being a route to morality reminded me of St. Augustine's words :
I agree with this mode of thinking too :)
Children are indeed innocent. But they are also egocentric. And, at the same time young children are capable of showing concern for the well-being of others, they are also capable to look out for their very own interests 1. As they grow up, as a natural course of development, they became less egocentric and act more fairly and less biased towards others.
I totally appreciate the rationale "society corrupts", but things are not that clear cut. If the social world is to be blamed for the corruption that exists among humans it should also be praised for its integrity :D
I hope you're having a wonderful day Sammi.
Much love to you always and forever from rainy Portugal.
❤
I've gotten more insight from this reply. Thanks a lot Abbey.
Sure I'm having a wonderful day here. Stay blessed Abbey. Much love from Nigeria; Sub-Saharan Africa 💖
Oh Abi, you are alive? 😄
Nice to see you and your articles here again :)
Hahaha Ahahahah, I am alive indeed @nikolanikola 😃
It is good to hear from you and see you around! I hope you are fine a looking forward to the summer.
Lots of love to you from Portugal ❤ :)
Welcome back, Abi.
People are as fragile as they are daredevil. Reading your article, I thought there had to be something like a collective memory. Then again, all of us who are born into great civilizations are already put into quite finished environments. Everything is already there, the whole environment is structured, explored, cultivated and loaded with content. Morality also seems to be something that is given into the field by the human collective in such a finished state. From an unspoken and not detailed point of view, I think we all understand morality to mean the same thing, even if we have different rules. For example, I do not believe that where the death penalty still exists, the executors are still convinced of the correctness of this practice. I believe that there is a fear of changing the rules and the resulting circumstances or dreaded debates. Hot potatoes.
Whether man is inherently good or evil is now such a strained debate that hopefully nobody believes anymore to have to decide for one side :-))
Yes, good point.
Presumably we always underestimate our own appearance in public space, not only the eyes of small children observe us, but the whole human world surrounding us. I also think that what I secretly think about morality or revenge has an influence on my environment. I don't even have to say it. The individual can count himself lucky if he doesn't feel tempted to repay evil with evil, because in fact the roles are always distributed and the whole world is never good, nor is it evil. The more time passes between my immoral deeds and mine, the better. Until I jump into the grave, I hopefully have balanced my account to some extent.
I liked your personal example with the girl that wanted to trade her toy for your water.
Babies are probably the most underestimated species when humans look at themselves.
Erika 😃
Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts here. I mostly like the observations you made about how everything is already here in terms of social structures. This is something particularly poignant when it comes to the development of identities . I believe. I was curious about your observation of people agreeing morality to be the same thing, in spite of different rules... Revenge is definitely a good point to raise in this discussion Erika, as it is manifested as a reaction to injustice.
Glad you liked my example. She was a sweet looking girl, too bad I don't remember what exactly her stuffed toy was.
I wish you a great weekend.
Lots of love from sunny Portugal :*
Yes, that is really something: revenge often is a reaction to injustice and makes things difficult.
In addition I had some further thoughts:
The existing rules do not always correspond to the zeitgeist that is already emerging and established in many parts. They are lagging behind in parts. This is certainly due to the fact that there is no homogeneity between people and while some still favour the eye-to-eye mentality, others are in favour of rehabilitation. The world has become a very big place, moral values not limited to one's own locality. This is why I find the most dangerous flows to be those in which one part of the population, in exaggerated zeal, tries to convert other parts of the world, thereby motivating not progress but counterproductive stagnation, sometimes even extreme terror. One should not overdo it with one's own permissiveness if elsewhere more sensitive value systems with a probably still stronger moral feeling are present. The systems are far more complicated than one could observe and judge and find a moral and communicative superstructure for all equally. Even physicists find it difficult to find a unifying theory, so why should philosophers, psychologists and sociologists be any different?
Isn't it much easier to find a moral agreement between two people or to negotiate it, than to want to do it for whole peoples? Very few of us speak simultaneously with thousands of people, but rather in dialogue with individuals or, when it comes up, in groups. It is better to keep the masses out of such encounters, isn't it? I recently visited a Syrian family and I get along very well with the mother. Nevertheless, I know that divorce is something morally questionable to them, but we elegantly circumnavigated the subject after there was such a hint and I only briefly revealed that I was divorced myself so that there would be no embarrassment later because the information was important to note.
The direct confrontation would not only be detrimental to our relationship, but also completely unnecessary, because we are mature enough to realize that agreement in this regard will be difficult to reach. Nevertheless, it also resonates that we do believe in meeting in friendship. But we do not need moral debates as long as we have not first discovered the similarities and a friendship can be established. The differences can be accepted much better if one has got to know the other person in all his good qualities. Then every moral judgement will not be as sharp, will it not?
This lets me think of diplomacy and things unspoken, because everybody feels the small influences with some sensitivity and uses them himself. It's a kind of elegant game, I noticed.
Have a lovely Sunday, dear Abi
Hi, thanks for the post! It was an interesting overview of the roots of human moral reasoning, and I enjoyed reading it.
I included a link to your article in my recent post, Science and technology micro-summaries for June 26, 2019, and added a beneficiary setting so that you'll receive 5% of the rewards.
Hello @remlaps-lite,
Thank you very much for including my post in your selection. I checked the other ones and am now interesting in reading the article on the progress of psychiatry from Psychology Today that is also part of your list :)
Best,
Abigail
You're welcome. I'm glad you found another article there that interested you. The article in Psychology Today was also a good read. Thank you for the feedback!
Yes, I really do enjoy reading your post. It's fantastic; a very powerful work of research. I really commend you @abigail-dantes, u're a great writer.
Thanks for sharing this post on morals with us. I feel that environmental factors too have effect on how people behave, aside the genetic factors. The environment a person lives and grows up in can really determine or influence the type of attitude the person portrays.
A very beautiful article from the beginning to the end. I can't wait to read more from you.
It is wonderful to see your comment @emperorhassy
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work and share your views on this topic with me. I am passionate about many subjects within my field, but this one (morality) is definitely one of my top favorites (I also love studying all things related to babies :)). So, I am so pleased to hear you liked it 😊
I wish you a wonderful evening. Time to get ready to wine down over here. It has been a long day. Have a wonderful night over there my dear.
I feel like I need to know more details about the puppet show the 5 month olds watched. There is so much missing data and a puppet show has so many elements. How did they control for preference unrelated to the behavior? We're the puppets in different roles for different babies, different voices? Were their puppet body languages different?
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Hello there @improv! Good points :)
All the 'good and bad' puppets played precisely the same short act for all the babies, and had no voice :) It is a silent puppet show. Further, one of the ways to control for preferences unrelated to behavior was counterbalancing the conditions :D (e.g placing the puppets in different order when present them for the babies to choose, using the same puppet to play the good and the bad guy and so forth). By all means have a look at the study to which link and full tittle I give in the in-text citation and the reference list. Personally, I think it is a wonderful study, which like every study has its strengths and limitations.
Excellent critical thinking though. Thank you for taking interest and the time to put forward insightful questions.
All the best to you.
Abigail.
Hi @abigail-dantes!
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oh! This is cool!! Thank you @utopian-io :)
yes! yes! yes! last day of school for Alex this week. finally got time to read and comment on your another very intelligent and comprehensive share for us. This one's an honest statement Miss Abi , i am not really into reading long content ( i think i told you that before , LOL ) but as i begin to read your blog it makes me wanna read more coz every line is worth reading and analyzing, and while reading i always say... ohh i see. hahaha.
so there , about this , i can somehow think about Alex's behavior that i told you about. and this line made me , "oh wow" . babies and toddlers are equipped with a great capacity to make accurate judgements about characters , i agree with this and yeah they tend to choose more of the good characters on this age hehe. Moreso , i also agree that we were born with natural selfishness and kindness , then it will just depend on the the environment we grow up with which we prefer to enhance , our good? or bad side?
Wooohooo!! because of this , feels like my mind was enhanced and recharge. LOL. thanks for another reality shared , i really am glad to see you back ,
lovelots from me , minis and the whole fam 😘❤️❤️❤️
It is always wonderful to hear real life accounts that match research findings @zephalexia 😃 And ... I know ... I feel the same as well about long posts! So, I am trying to be careful and keep my posts' word count between 1000 and 1200 words! We all have busy lives and there is little time left for things other than our daily activities :D
It makes me very happy to hear you liked this article! My family is coming from overseas to spend time with me & my husband here in Portugal (for a couple of weeks). They are arriving next Sunday. So, I might 'disappear' for the next few days. But, after that my plan is to return to writing on a weekly basis for my Steemit blog! 😊
I wish you and the family a peaceful weekend!
I send a special hug for little Alex this time!❤️
Much love to you all.
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It's great to have you back with your great themes of psychology and philosophy, we miss you a lot here. Welcome again my friend Abigail :D :*
Thank you @carloserp-2000 for your warm words of support and encouragement. They do mean a lot to me 😊 ❤
Welcome baaack! What's new?
You can never go wrong when combining psychology and philosophy!
We have a lot to learn from kids and articles like yours prove it once again!
Hope to see more beautiful posts!
Hello there @dysfunctional 😃
Ow .... it is so nice to hear from you :) I visited your blog a couple of weeks ago (and just now again) and saw that you also took a (shorter) break from the platform. I hope you find time to return sooner than later.
The only piece of news I have is that my family has just returned to Brazil after spending almost two weeks here with me. We had a great time together. Although ... I feel exhausted now!!😆
I hope everything is fine with you and all your loved ones too!
:)
Nice to hear that!
Yeah, I've been (and still am) off for some time. Just working on several projects atm and have to set priorities. I'll stick around to read though. :)
😊🌷
Hey you,
is your @dysfunctional blog dead? Do you ever visit or come back? I switched completely to Hive.
I truly miss the good days on Steemit. I had the best online conversations imaginable. Quality since then dropped significantly. But then, I am not mixing with a STEM crowd on Hive. ... Hmm... maybe I should go and seek a new one.
Such a pity not talking to you and the others any more.
I hope you'll read this comment one day. I wish you all the best!
Greetings from E.
I think our morals come from God. If I didn't believe in God, I know that I would have been doing some really bad things at the moment.
Hello @yaanivapeji :) thank you for your comment. It is interesting that you say that because one of the five moral foundations proposed by Haidt is Sanctity / Degradation, which according to him underlies notions of religion that lead individuals to live life in more elevated, nobler ways. It's beautiful right? :) The basis of our moral convictions go way further than fairness and justice.
I do hope you begin to feel more light and contentment in your heart in order to extinguish the inclination towards doing bad things. Being good and doing good is healthier than the alternative option, mentally and physically.
I wish you all the best & thank you for taking part in this discussion.
Wow Abi, you're alive! Are you well as well (pub intended)?
The topic you wrote about is one of the most fascinating for me in the field of social sciences. You should definitely read or listen of some Jonathan Haidt works, he has a great TED talk too. He's the most prominent psychologists in the field of psychological foundations of moral intuitions at the moment.
@saunter!! ❤😃❤
Well, it looks like we have one more thing in common: our fascination for Haidt's works. One of his works is right there in my reference list :D and his name right there under the Not a blank slate I have extensively been reading his work over the past few months! I am yet to watch him on youtube .... I will have time for that over the next few weeks.
And yes! I am alive and well 😆 I can see that you too. Beautiful photos you have shared recently of the winter in Icenland, Brrrrrrr.... I was quite amazed by them.
It is wonderful to hear from you. You take care 😘
I looked at the reference and couldn't find him but I guess I shouldn't comment before actually reading :'D
There will be one last post about Iceland soon, with great photos, but now I'm back in Poland preparing for the trip of my life. Hope you gonna like it :)
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Hahahaha Ahahahah
Well, good luck with all your preparations. I am sure I am going to like them. You take incredible photos of incredible places! Just make sure to keep us posted about all them all :)
You take care & all the best for you during your travels.
Was waiting for you guys to post :P , Im glad Im reading this post 2 hours after it has been posted. Ive been wondering who Meno is, I searched who Meno is at google because I am partially confused.
From wikipedia. Still confused though, I might bookmark this anyways for future educational purposes, maybe it could be useful.
A heads up for you though, if you dont want to use steemit.com as your blogging platform, you may use your WordPress website using the SteemPress plugin to simply post your posts from your Blog to Steem blockchain.
Here is a quick link for you https://wordpress.org/plugins/steempress/ read more here -> https://steemit.com/@steempress-io
If you do want to post, and already posted using the plugin, just mention my username anytime and we would love to help you more ;) , or join the Discord server here.
Thank you and have a great evening <3
Hello @chuuuckie,
Both Meno and Socrates were real people who became Plato's fictional characters of a philosophical dialogue (about virtues) also named Meno 😆 No wonder why you feel confused!
Thank you for stopping by.
Best Wishes to you.
Bem-vinda de volta, @abigail-dantes! Sempre trazendo um excelente conteúdo para a blockchain do STEEM, não é à toa que estás liderando o ranking do @brazilians :D Obrigado por compartilhar ;)
Enjoy the vote and some free shit!
Welcom back :)
Hello there @benainouna it's nice to see you're around! Thank you for the welcome wish :D
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Sorry I caught this so late!
I'm pretty sure you've been inundated with welcomes in the comment section, but welcome back! Well, I guess you never left, so let's change it to so nice to see a new post from you!
I thought of the monkey-unequal pay example as soon as I read the post's title. It seems that the sense of justice is our earliest moral emotion, so it's not too far-fetched to hypothesize that maybe all our other moral values stem from, or are somehow built upon, the sense of fairness.
I think it would make sense if this was the first 'moral instinct' because it would be based on a kind of like-for-like almost visual sort of moral perception. 'If this block of wood looks like this other block of wood then shouldn't both be able to feed the fire?' 'If this action looks like that action shouldn't both be rewarded/punished the same?'
Alexander 😊 ❤!
How wonderful to see your comment here. Thank you for your warm welcome. And, you are right ... I never really left. Still, it is nice to be back writing again :)
As for the experiment ... ow ... 😂 she is outraged! Which, in turn, reminds me of a study conducted on 'air rage'. This study revealed that physical inequality (planes featuring first-class cabins) is associated with a higher frequency of air rage in the economy class. With, for example, economy passengers being 4 times more likely to choke the person in front of them 😓 !! The research also revealed that planes with first-class cabins can have even an equivalent or bigger effect on economy passengers than that of a 9,5 hour flight delay!
Based on my readings of Haidt's works I am inclined to think our moral values stem from the psychological foundations that give rise to care/harm (related to our evolution as mammals with attachment and emphatic systems) which is at the basis of virtues of nurturance, gentleness and kindness.
It is always wonderful to have your insightful comments :)
I wish you a wonderful summer!
:)
Abigail
Lol!! I didn't know there was enough of that going on to make a statistic out of it!!
I know!! 😓 😆