Universal Morality?
Just finished reading an interesting article on Universal Morality.
It touches on a lot of points I find interesting. Do people have an internal sense of right and wrong? Is there a universal morality? Or is morality culturally and contextually linked? Is there a region of the brain responsible for making moral decisions (Medial Orbito-Frontal Cortex - ie Phineas Gage anyone??). All in all a very interesting read, and I suggest you take a look if you have an interest in the subject.
"One thing these cutting-edge studies certainly cannot tell us is the right answer to a moral dilemma. Cognitive science can offer a descriptive theory of moral reasoning, but not a normative one. That is, by studying infants or brains or people around the world, we may be able to offer an account of how people actually make moral decisions-which concepts are necessary, how different principles are weighed, what contextual factors influence the final decision-but we will not be able to say how people should make moral decisions."
It touches on a lot of points I find interesting. Do people have an internal sense of right and wrong? Is there a universal morality? Or is morality culturally and contextually linked? Is there a region of the brain responsible for making moral decisions (Medial Orbito-Frontal Cortex - ie Phineas Gage anyone??). All in all a very interesting read, and I suggest you take a look if you have an interest in the subject.
"One thing these cutting-edge studies certainly cannot tell us is the right answer to a moral dilemma. Cognitive science can offer a descriptive theory of moral reasoning, but not a normative one. That is, by studying infants or brains or people around the world, we may be able to offer an account of how people actually make moral decisions-which concepts are necessary, how different principles are weighed, what contextual factors influence the final decision-but we will not be able to say how people should make moral decisions."