Moral Psychology: Evolutionary Altruistic Behavior
Prof. Fincke
PH250
December 13, 2012
Moral Psychology
Introduction:
People throughout history and diverse cultures have long debated over what deems our decisions, actions, and judgments right, wrong, good, or evil. Moral Psychology is a field that is at a crossroads within the fields of psychology and philosophy in the debate between good and bad. One of the ways Moral Psychology tries to define our moral judgments is through arguing that they are reasoned by our basic, human emotions. Paul Zak, a neuroeconomist from Claremont Graduate University argues that as humans, we base our judgments of good and evil through our natural inclination towards empathy (Zak, “Moral Sentiments in the Brain”). Zak’s research “not only found that moral …show more content…
More specifically, they believe any behavior deemed altruistic, is not really altruistic after all. In the words of biologist Michael Ghiselin, “Scratch an ‘altruist’ and watch a ‘hypocrite’ bleed” (155). The empathy-altruism hypothesis gives a good example on how altruistic behavior comes from the desire to help someone in need. However, it does not solve the dispute between egoism vs. altruism and whether the ultimate desire to help someone actually stems from self-interest. In terms of egoists, they do not deny that people help others; “there is a variety of alternatives egoistic alternatives by which empathy might lead to helping behavior without generating the ultimate desire to help” (175). For example, it may be that when someone experiences empathy, they jointly experience an unpleasant feeling, which motivates them to help the person in distress, relieving them from the unpleasant experience. This is known as the aversive-arousal reduction hypothesis (175). Also, there are many instances regarding reward and punishment in seemingly altruistic behavior. Perhaps failing to help may make them feel bad about themselves, leading them to perform altruistic behaviors, though in reality, they are not altruistic at all
PH250
December 13, 2012
Moral Psychology
Introduction:
People throughout history and diverse cultures have long debated over what deems our decisions, actions, and judgments right, wrong, good, or evil. Moral Psychology is a field that is at a crossroads within the fields of psychology and philosophy in the debate between good and bad. One of the ways Moral Psychology tries to define our moral judgments is through arguing that they are reasoned by our basic, human emotions. Paul Zak, a neuroeconomist from Claremont Graduate University argues that as humans, we base our judgments of good and evil through our natural inclination towards empathy (Zak, “Moral Sentiments in the Brain”). Zak’s research “not only found that moral …show more content…
More specifically, they believe any behavior deemed altruistic, is not really altruistic after all. In the words of biologist Michael Ghiselin, “Scratch an ‘altruist’ and watch a ‘hypocrite’ bleed” (155). The empathy-altruism hypothesis gives a good example on how altruistic behavior comes from the desire to help someone in need. However, it does not solve the dispute between egoism vs. altruism and whether the ultimate desire to help someone actually stems from self-interest. In terms of egoists, they do not deny that people help others; “there is a variety of alternatives egoistic alternatives by which empathy might lead to helping behavior without generating the ultimate desire to help” (175). For example, it may be that when someone experiences empathy, they jointly experience an unpleasant feeling, which motivates them to help the person in distress, relieving them from the unpleasant experience. This is known as the aversive-arousal reduction hypothesis (175). Also, there are many instances regarding reward and punishment in seemingly altruistic behavior. Perhaps failing to help may make them feel bad about themselves, leading them to perform altruistic behaviors, though in reality, they are not altruistic at all