Morality Flashcards
Where does the sense of right and wrong come from
- kin selection: helping those related
- reciprocal altruism: engaging in behavior to help others because of reciprocity
These mechanisms give emotional response to motivate moral behavior
describe the naturalistic fallacy
what we discover about how the world IS != how we ought to behave
IS != ought
give an example of how evolutionary mechanisms cause emotions to motivate moral behavior
We feel gratitude and liking for people who cooperate us. This motivates us to be kind in the future
example of altruism in animals
warning cries
Who are you more likely to help? Your brother or your cousin?
brother
describe prisoner’s dilemma
working together yields best probable result
- if 1 confesses and 1 doesnt: confessor free and other jail
- if both confess: they both get sent to jail for 5 years
- if neither confess: both sent to jail for 1 year
We feel gratitude and liking for people who cooperate us. What does this motivate us to do?
be kind
We feel anger and distrust for people who betray us. What does this motivate us to do?
avoid them and tell other people to avoid them
We feel guilt when we betray someone who cooperates with us. What does this motivate to do?
repair relationships, behave better in future
Is morality driven more by emotions or ration?
emotions
what is empathy
experience of feelings and emotions because of the situation of another person
instinctive empathy
natural discomfort when you see someone else in pain
Are you more likely to feel empathy for someone of your own culture or a stranger?
own culture
evidence of empathy in early childhood
infants will react with distress to cries of other infants (not other loud noises)
after first year their distress will lead to helping behavior
example of infants channelling distress into help
infants bring favorite toy to distressed parent
perspective taking
imagining ourself in their places, for some ideas of sensations that are weaker in degree
types of empathy
instinctive and perspective
empathy-alturism hypothesis
empathy leads people to care more and to be more likely to offer help
what are psychopaths
lack empathy because of how they were born
what are sociopaths
lack empathy because of their environment
evidence for psychopathy in early childhood
cruel to animals, aggression, theft
evidence for psychopathy physiologically
reduced skin conductance response to distress and fear in others, impaired startle response distressing images, abnormal conditioned fear response, reduced amygdala volume and cannot recognize fear, do not learn from mistakes
outcome of emotional dot probe experiment for psychopaths
most people look at more distressed image -> see dot faster, psychopaths are indifferent
psychopathy checklist
aggressive narcissism (manipulative, no guilt or empathy, big sense of self-worth)
socially deviant lifestyle (need for stimulation, poor behavior control, lack of long-term goals)
are men or women more likely to have psychopathy
men (twice as much)
2 trolley problems
- lever: 5 workers vs. 1 worker and we switch lever
- foot bridge: 5 workers vs. 1 large man off foot bridge and we push man
Is it harder to switch a lever or push a man
push a man
consequentialist theory
what you think is right is determined by consequences
decision is morally correct it and only if it brings better consequence
(basically situations do not differ)
deontology
decision is morally correct if it adheres to principles (does not harm innocent people)
physiological aversion to harming others predicts …
judgements of hypothetical moral dilemmas
people who hit fake leg with hammer with less force are more likely to agree with which trolley problem?
lever
identifiable victim effect
feeling more empathy for individuals
