PSYCH 217 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Neurology, Fallacy, The Roots
18 Jan 2017
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Laying the groundwork: something we will think about in class. Decoding our moral intuitions: our goal is to decode what makes something cruel or kind , apply this knowledge to your life, but take special cautions . Important points: don"t commit the naturalistic fallacy. What is typical doesn"t determine what"s right. The belief that since the behavior is natural, the behavior is moral. Our goal is not to condemn or praise, but to understand. Biological understanding doesn"t say what should be : evolution matters: don"t ignore our species" evolved characteristics. Being aware of the naturalistic fallacy protects us from incorrectly arguing that there is a biological basis for determining values. We must guard against assuming we can make any moral system we want. Our moral brains and culture are rooted in the evolutionary history of out species. Moral intuitions influenced by our brain and species typical social structure: motivational autonomy: biology determines what can be, not what must be.
