Morality An Evolutionary Account

摘要

Refinements in Darwin's theory of the origin ofa moral sense create a framework equipped to organizeand integrate contemporary theory and research on mo-rality. Morality originated in deferential, cooperative, and altruistic "social instincts," or decision-making strategies,that enabled early humans to maximize their gains fromsocial living and resolve their conflicts of interest inadaptive ways. Moral judgments, moral norms, and con-science originated from strategic interactions amongmembers of groups who experienced confluences and con-flicts of interest. Moral argumentation buttressed by moralreasoning is equipped to generate universal and impartialmoral standards. Moral beliefs and standards are prod-ucts of automatic and controlled information-processingand decision-making mechanisms. To understand howpeople make moral decisions, we must understand howearly evolved mechanisms in the old brain and recentlyevolved mechanisms in the new brain are activated andhow they interact. Understanding what a sense of moralityis for helps us understand what it is.