Modern Good & Evil Flashcards
What does behaviourism suggest about good and evil?
There aren’t good or bad people, just good or bad environments
What does our personality suggest about good and evil?
People not as a whole naturally good or evil, but some people are more likely to be evil
What are Authoritarianism and Psychoticism examples of?
Personality approaches that argues that some people are more evil than others
Evidence against us naturally being good…
Ethology research from Frans de Waal and colleagues compared two competing accounts of murder among chimpanzees.
▻The adaptive strategy argument is that killing is an evolved tactic, which improves the killer’s adaptive fitness by increasing access to resources (territory, food, mates). Can be interpreted as pro-evil.
▻ The human impact account suggests that killings are a result, similar to Rousseau’s belief that people are made evil due to civilization.
Adaptive strategy was the findings.
Does money make us happy? (pro-good evidence)
There is only a moderate correlation.
Spending money on other people was correlated with happiness, but spending money on yourself was not.
Results were reflected in students (happier when spending money on others).
Pro-good evidence in animals…
▻ Frans de Waal’s observations have shown that chimpanzees spontaneously comfort each other
▻ Animal research has shown how animals will refrain from an action (pulling a lever to get food), if it is paired with another animal being hurt (i.e. electric shock)
▻ Other research has identified how animals react negatively to perceived unfairness to other animals as well
Evidence for the role of the environment influencing good or evil…
Zimbardo’s prison experiment
No good or bad people, only good or bad environments.
Problems with Zimbardo’s experiment…
- Zimbardo was the warden (demand characteristics)
- Results haven’t been replicated
- Some claims have been challenged
- Guards were young men: testosterone and impulsiveness are associated with aggression
What was the name of Stephen Pinker’s book? What did it argue?
The Better Angels of Our Nature.
Argues both good and evil are wrong.
Changes have been leading to a decrease in evil in our society.
