The New Synthesis in Moral Psychology

February 23, 2021 Jeremiah Hendren

The New Synthesis in Moral Psychology

Haidt, Jonathan*
Science 316, no. 5827 (2007): 998-1002
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1137651

* Professor at New York University

If you ever become a contestant on an unusually erudite quiz show, and you are asked to explain human behavior in two seconds or less, you might want to say “self-interest.” After all, economic models that assume only a motive for self-interest perform reasonably well. However, if you have time to give a more nuanced answer, you should also discuss the moral motives addressed in Table 1. Try answering those questions now. If your total for column B is higher than your total for column A, then congratulations, you are Homo moralis, not Homo economicus. You have social motivations beyond direct self-interest, and the latest research in moral psychology can help explain why. In 1975, E. O. Wilson predicted that ethics would soon be incorporated into the “new synthesis” of sociobiology. Two psychological theories of his day were ethical behaviorism (values are learned by reinforcement) and the cognitive developmental theory of Lawrence Kohlberg (social experiences help children construct an increasingly adequate understanding of justice). Wilson believed that these two theories would soon merge with research on the hypothalamic-limbic system, which he thought supported the moral emotions, to provide a comprehensive account of the origins and mechanisms of morality. As it turned out, Wilson got the ingredients wrong. [...]

Jonathan Haidt

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