Haidt Moral Foundations Theory Ethics Quiz #2

Haidt's thesis: The "first draft" is the evolved social emotions identified as the six foundations of morality, while the "second draft" of our moral minds is developed through the shaping power of culture.

"The righteous mind is like a tongue with six taste receptors." -- Haidt

1) Nature/nativist views:

- God-given natural law, dharma-karma - evolved social emotions (Darwin's sympathy, Noddings)

2) Nurture/empiricist views:

- J. Locke - "mind is a blank slate at birth" - B. Skinner's behaviorist/conditioning approach

3) Reason/rationalist views:

- Piaget and Kohlberg's cognitive-developmental approach

4) Culture/culturalist views:

- Shweder - individualistic vs. sociocentric cultures

Where does morality come from? There are 4 views:

1) Nature/nativist views: 2) Nurture/empiricist views: 3)Reason/rationalist views: 4) Culture/culturalist views:

Evolutionary Ethics:

Ethology (study of animal behavior) and evolutionary biology are the basis for evolutionary ethics. Evolutionary ethics started with the publication of The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin (1809-1882) in 1871. In this follow-up to On the Origin of Species (1859), Darwin applied his ideas about evolutionary development to human beings. For Darwin, the origins of human morality lie in the social instincts exhibited by animals.

The "first draft" of our moral minds:

Six Foundations 1. Care/harm 2. Fairness/cheating 3. Loyalty/betrayal 4. Authority/subversion 5. Sanctity/degradation 6. Liberty/oppression

Haidt's own reseach confirmed what Shweder was saying about the influence of cultural norms and values on people's moral views and response to moral issues. In one study, Haidt's research subjects were in Orissa (India) and Chicago/Hyde Park. The Orissans interviewed were conditioned by a sociocentric culture—a "thick moral web"--in which every aspect of life has a moral dimension or moral force to it. So, for Orissans, what one eats and wears is a moral question related to a religiously-based sense of purity and pollution. But for a typical American, conditioned by an individualistic culture, what people eat and wear is a matter of individual choice, and the moral dimension has to do with their individual right to choose, not the goodness-badness of what they consume or how they clothe themselves.

Acronym WEIRD = White, European, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic

Haidt says that in response to events/situations, our "inner elephant" moves instantly one way or another with a "yay" or "yuck" response, and then the rider (mind) works to justify our view of the matter. Haidt holds that David Hume was right in saying "reason is the servant of the passions."

rider of the elephant: conscious, verbal, thinking brain Elephant: the automatic, emotional visceral part of the brain

1. Care/harm

adaptive challenged it evolved in response to: caring for vulnerable children description: makes us sensitive to suffering, and predisposes us to help those in need

3. Loyalty/betrayal

adaptive challenged it evolved in response to: creating and sustaining cohesive coalitions description: makes us sensitive as to whether or not others are team players, and encourages us to ostracize those who betray our group

4. Authority/subversion

adaptive challenged it evolved in response to: forming relationships that benefit us at various levels with social hierarchies description:makes us sensitive to people's rank, class and status, and to signs that they are behaving according to their position

6. Liberty/oppression

adaptive challenged it evolved in response to: keeping tyrants, bullies, and alpha males from becoming too powerful description:makes us resent anything that feels like attempted domination or oppression

5. Sanctity/degradation

adaptive challenged it evolved in response to: knowing which foods were safe to eat and maintaining clean surroundings description:makes it possible for us to invest objects with seemingly rational value, which helps to bind groups together

2. Fairness/cheating

adaptive challenged it evolved in response to: punishing free riders description:makes us concerned about proportionality and karma. others should get what they deserve