Moral Psychology

Immanuel Kant

Rationalism

Categorical imperative

Rationalism

through human reasoning, we can discover eternal truths about the world/ what it means to make a morally-correct decision

Categorical Imperative

the principle that acts should be chosen based on their moral worth, rather than on their ability to achieve a particular goal or outcome

• Moral principles should be based on reason rather than subjective desires or feelings

• Ex: Lying could not be considered a universal principle because it would undermine the trust and communication necessary for human society to function -> lying would be morally wrong

Piaget’s Perspective

Piaget thought that proper development meant that children needed to proceed through a set of stages that marked moral shift in their behavior

• Universal, invariant sequence

Focused on observables (outcomes) more than underlying properties (intentions)

• Young children focus on outcomes

• Older, more morally-mature children focus on intentions

Egocentric, heteronomous, autonomous

Piaget’s evidence

A child who knocks over one glass while trying to steal a cookie deserves more blame than a child who knocks over five glasses trying to help their parent

Egocentric

I can play however I want

Heteronomous

There’s one right way to play, it has been the same forever

Autonomous

There’s an agreed upon way to play, but we could change it through consenseus

Kohlberg

Heinz’s Dilemma

Pre-conventional, conventional, post-conventional levels

• **This stage theory doesn’t account for cultural differences

Moral reasoning:

• Kohlberg presented hypothetical moral dilemmas to 10- to 16-year-old boys and then followed the participants longitudinally over the next 20 years.

• Moral maturity is determined by the way an individual reasons about the dilemma, not the content of the response.

Heinz’s Dilemma

Heinz's wife is dying of cancer

The only drug that can save her costs $1,000, which he cannot afford

Heinz asks the pharmacist if he can pay for the drug later, but the pharmacist refuses

Desperate to save his wife, Heinz breaks into the pharmacy and steals the drug

Are Heinz's actions morally right or wrong?

• Often used to assess a person's level of moral reasoning and to understand how they think about right and wrong

Pre-conventional level

values based on external events

• Stage 1: acting to avoid punishment (ages 5-7)

• Stage 2: acting to further one’s own interest (ages 8-10)

Conventional level

assessing personal consequences

• Stage 3: decisions based on the approval of others (ages 10-12)

• Stage 4: judgments based on the relative rules and laws of society (ages 12-14)

Post-conventional level

shared standards- rights, duties, and principles

• Stage 5: social contract rules and laws of social good (ages 17-20)

• Stage 6: guided by moral principle of justice (ages 21+)

Social Domain Theory

the idea that all of the rules we see as existing in the social world can be divided into 2 domains: moral and conventional

Moral rules

intrinsic and universal, applying no matter what

• Physical harm

• Emotional harm

• Violations of fairness

Conventional rules

created by individual cultures and only applied when there are explicit rules or norms dictating them

• Foods

• Dress

• Manners

Social domain theory vs, piaget & kohlberg

No stages (there’s developmental continuity)

Both morality and convention are present from birth

Convention doesn’t precede morality

Helps us navigate the world and make sense of things

More evidence suggests that this theory is true, helper and hinder experiment

Hume’s Perspective

Rival to Kant

Argued we should have a moral imperative

Famous for sentimentalism

• Similar to contemporary John Height’s argument

• Linked to trolley dilemmas

Trolley Dilemmas: Classic scenario

You’re in a trolley on a track that would hit 5 people, do you pull the lever to switch to a track where one person would get hit?

7/10 people would pull the lever

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism

the morally correct decision is the one that maximizes wellbeing

Trolley dilemmas: bridge scenario

What if you’re on a footbridge and pushing one person off would stop the trolley from hitting five others?

9/10 would not push the person

Our instincts tell us that deliberately causing someone’s death is different than allowing them to be collateral damage; pushing someone activates an emotional aversion

Social Intuitionist Model of Morality

Jonathan Haidt

The social intuitionist model is presented as an alternative to rationalist models.

The model is a social model in that it deemphasizes the private reasoning done by individuals and emphasizes instead the importance of social and cultural influences.

Social transmission of morality

Relationship between emotions and moral judgement

• There are many ways that emotions help or hinder us from making “moral” decisions

Moral Contagion Hypothesis

Moral Contagion Hypthesis

moral attitudes and behaviors can be spread from one individual to another through social interactions

• Examples: protests, social media, online, etc.

Sentimentalism

Prioritizing feelings over reasoning