Evolutionary Evolutionary EthicsEthics

Ann Kemper

We are discussing no We are discussing no small matter, but how small matter, but how

we ought to livewe ought to live

Socrates, in Plato’s Republic (CA. 390 B.C.)

An Ethical An Ethical BackgroundBackground

Moral Philosophy

““Moral philosophy is the Moral philosophy is the attempt to achieve a attempt to achieve a

systematic understanding systematic understanding of theof the nature of morality nature of morality and and what it requires of what it requires of

usus””

--Rachels, p. 1

What it requires of us: What it requires of us: Normative EthicsNormative Ethics

1) Virtue Theories

Aristotle’s eudaimonism the foundation character traits determine if one is good what is morally correct is what a good

(practically wise) person determines is the proper course of action

What it requires of us: What it requires of us: Normative EthicsNormative Ethics

2) Duty Theories (deontological)

Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law

Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only

What it requires of us: What it requires of us: Normative EthicsNormative Ethics

3) Consequentialist theories

An action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable

Ethical egoism, social contract theory, ethical altruism, utilitarianism

Minimum Conception of Minimum Conception of Morality - PhilosophyMorality - Philosophy

“Morality is, at the very least, the effort to guide one’s conduct by reason—that is, to do what there are the best reasons for doing—while giving equal

weight to the interests of each individual who will be affected by what

one does”

--Rachels, p. 14

The Nature of MoralityThe Nature of Morality

1) metaphysical issues concerning whether morality exists independently of humans

objectivism: moral values are eternal truths

relativism: morals are simply human conventions; no universal truths

The Nature of MoralityThe Nature of Morality

2) psychological issues concerning the underlying mental basis of our moral judgments and conduct, particularly what motivates us to be moral

Altruism and Egoism Emotion and Reason Three Psychological Models of Moral

Development

The Psychology of The Psychology of Moral BehaviorsMoral Behaviors

Dennis L. KrebsHandbook of Evolutionary

Psychology

Psychological Models of Psychological Models of MoralityMorality

Psychoanalytic– “infants are assumed to inherit

powerful sexual and aggressive instincts that induce immoral desires”

– “behaving morally entails constraining instinctual, id-based, pleasure seeking urges”

--Krebs, p. 337

Psychological Models of Psychological Models of MoralityMorality

Social learning– “infants are viewed as infinitely plastic

—shaped by parents and other socializing agents”

– “behaving morally equates to conforming to the norms of society and entails obeying the dictates of authorities”

--Krebs, p. 337

Psychological Models of Psychological Models of MoralityMorality

Kohlberg’s Cognitive-Developmental– reigning theory of morality for past 30

years– children become moral in stages as

they develop the cognitive structures capable of increasingly sophisticated moral reasoning

– “behaving morally entails figuring out the most just solution to moral problems and acting accordingly”

--Krebs, p. 337-8

Morality involves…Morality involves…

“the self-control necessary to resist animal urges, conformity to social

norms, deference to legitimate authorities, understanding why certain acts are right and wrong, and caring

for others”

--Krebs, p. 338

Morality…Morality…

“is, at the very least, the effort to guide one’s

conduct by reason—that is, to do what there are

the best reasons for doing—while giving equal weight to the

interests of each individual who will be affected by what one

does”

“involves the self-control necessary to resist

animal urges, conformity to social norms,

deference to legitimate authorities,

understanding why certain acts are right

and wrong, and caring for others”

Evolutionary TheoryEvolutionary Theory

science meets humanity

Evolutionary Ethics…Evolutionary Ethics…

What is the scope and nature of the relevance to human behavior and social structure?

Is ethics in important respects independent of the evolutionary history of humans?

What role does cognition play in ethics?

--Thompson, p. 338

“If nature selects traits that enhance individuals’ fitness, and if, by definition, moral traits induce

individuals to resist the temptation to enhance their fitness at the expense of others, how could moral traits evolve?”

--Krebs, p. 338

Evolution of Moral BehaviorEvolution of Moral Behavior

“the types of behavior that came to be labeled right, wrong, good, and bad

evolved before the labels; moral labels evolved before the articulated moral

rules, and articulated moral rules evolved before the moral judgments

people invoke to uphold them.”

--Krebs, p. 340

Chicken or the Egg?Chicken or the Egg?

Kohlberg argued that moral judgment gives rise to moral behavior– Consistent with the rationalist views of

morality Evolutionary ethics argues that moral

behavior gives rise to moral judgment– Provides broad framework for organizing,

revising, and resolving the inconsistencies among most psychological approaches

Nature vs. NurtureNature vs. Nurture

If human nature is fundamentally immoral, morality must be taught

Evolutionary ethics argues that natural selection has instilled humans with a moral sense, a disposition to be good– Moral behaviors can still be shaped

through conditioning

Ends & Means?Ends & Means?

If moral behaviors have evolved to allow social species to thrive, are non-human animals members of the moral community?

Does morality cross community lines?

Moral Behavior?Moral Behavior?

“What ends up evolving in individuals is the capacity to develop

conditional strategies: to behave morally when it pays off, to cheat

when one believes one can get away with it, and to catch and punish

cheaters when it is to one’s advantage.”

--Krebs, p. 340

“What ends up evolving in individuals is the capacity to develop conditional strategies: to behave morally when it pays off, to cheat when one believes one can get away with it, and to catch and punish cheaters when it is to one’s advantage.”

“Morality is, at the very least, the effort to guide one’s conduct by reason—that is, to do what there are the best reasons for doing—while giving equal weight to the interests of each individual who will be affected by what one does”

“Morality involves the self-control necessary to resist animal urges, conformity to social norms, deference to legitimate authorities, understanding why certain acts are right and wrong, and caring for others”

Cognitive Cognitive Neuroscience Meets Neuroscience Meets MoralityMorality

the examined life

An fMRI Investigation of Emotional An fMRI Investigation of Emotional Engagement in Moral JudgmentEngagement in Moral Judgment

Joshua D. Greene, R. Brian Sommerville, Leigh E. Nystrom, John M. Darley, Jonathan D. Cohen

Although both reason and emotion are likely to play important roles in moral judgment, relatively little is known

about their neural correlates, the nature of their interaction, and the factors that modulate their respective behavioral influences in the context of moral judgment. In two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies using moral dilemmas as probes, we apply the methods of

cognitive neuroscience to the study of moral judgment.

The Trolley DilemmaThe Trolley Dilemma

The DilemmasThe Dilemmas

3 types: non-moral, moral-impersonal, and personal-moral

The moral dilemmas of which the coders said that the action in question (a) could reasonably be expected to lead to serious bodily harm (b) to a particular person or a member or members of a particular group of people (c) where this harm is not the result of deflecting an existing threat onto a different party were assigned to the "moral-personal" condition

the others were assigned to the "moral-impersonal" condition

Non-moralNon-moral

You have decided to make a batch of brownies for yourself. You open your recipe book and find a recipe for brownies.

The recipe calls for a cup of chopped walnuts. You don't like walnuts, but you do like macadamia nuts. As it happens, you have both kinds of nuts available to you.

Is it appropriate for you to substitute macadamia nuts for walnuts in order to avoid eating walnuts?

Impersonal-moralImpersonal-moral

You are at the wheel of a runaway trolley quickly approaching a fork in the tracks. On the tracks extending to the left is a group of five railway workmen. On the tracks extending to the right is a single railway workman.

If you do nothing the trolley will proceed to the left, causing the deaths of the five workmen. The only way to avoid the deaths of these workmen is to hit a switch on your dashboard that will cause the trolley to proceed to the right, causing the death of the single workman.

Is it appropriate for you to hit the switch in order to avoid the deaths of the five workmen?

Personal-moralPersonal-moral

A runaway trolley is heading down the tracks toward five workmen who will be killed if the trolley proceeds on its present course. You are on a footbridge over the tracks, in between the approaching trolley and the five workmen. Next to you on this footbridge is a stranger who happens to be very large.

The only way to save the lives of the five workmen is to push this stranger off the bridge and onto the tracks below where his large body will stop the trolley. The stranger will die if you do this, but the five workmen will be saved.

Is it appropriate for you to push the stranger on to the tracks in order to save the five workmen?

Our ResultsOur Results

Click to view our results How did you react to the questions? Did you recognize a difference as

you answered them? How long/difficult it took to come to

a decision? Appropriately classified?

Posterior Cingulate Gyrus Angular Gyrus

Medial Frontal Gyrus

Parietal Lobe

Middle Frontal Gyrus

Reaction TimeReaction Time

Activity Across the BrainActivity Across the Brain

“The present results raise but do not answer a more general question

concerning the relation between the aforementioned philosophical and psychological puzzles: How will a

better understanding of the mechanisms that give rise to our moral judgments alter our attitudes toward

the moral judgments we make?”

--Greene, et.al., 2001

Which Side of the Tracks?Which Side of the Tracks?

“The final determination of the viability of evolutionary ethics does not rest with resolving the naturalistic fallacy or issues of determinism but with the results of theorizing in neurobiology and cognitive science.”

Do the results of cognitive neuroscience support an evolutionary theory of ethics?

Is this a line of research we should continue pursuing?

--Thompson, p. 484

Challenges to Challenges to Evolutionary Evolutionary ThinkingThinking

more discussion questions

Challenges to Evolutionary Challenges to Evolutionary EthicsEthics How can a trait that was developed under

the pressure of natural selection explain moral actions that go far beyond reciprocal altruism or enlightened self-interest? How can, for instance, the action of Maximilian Kolbe be explained from a biological point of view? (Kolbe was a German priest who starved himself to death in a concentration camp to rescue a fellow prisoner.)

Challenges to Evolutionary Challenges to Evolutionary EthicsEthics Could not human beings have

moved beyond their biological roots and transcended their evolutionary origins, in which case they would be able to formulate goals in the pursuit of goodness, beauty, and truth that "have nothing to do directly with survival, and which may at times militate against survival?" (O’Hear, 1997: 203).

Challenges to Evolutionary Challenges to Evolutionary EthicsEthics

Morality is universal, whereas biologically useful altruism is particular favoring the family or the group over others. 'Do not kill' does not only refer to one’s own son, but also to the son of strangers. How can evolutionary ethics cope with universality?

Challenges to Evolutionary Challenges to Evolutionary EthicsEthics

Normative ethics aims to be action-guiding. How could humans ever judge an action to be ensuring long-term survival? (This is a practical rather than conceptual problem for evolutionary ethics.)

Challenges to Evolutionary Challenges to Evolutionary EthicsEthics

Hume’s 'is-ought' problem still remains a challenge for evolutionary ethics. How can one move from 'is' (findings from the natural sciences, including biology and sociobiology) to 'ought'?

Challenges to Evolutionary Challenges to Evolutionary EthicsEthics

Similarly, despite the length of time that has passed since the publication of Principia Ethica, the challenge of the 'naturalistic fallacy' remains The Is-Ought Fallacy

Commentary Commentary Question:Question:

Has science overstepped its bounds? Does science have a legitimate role

in the humanities?

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