Morals

[mlerules]

Recent whirlpools of my mind have spat out all sorts of stuff on this topic. Today I read this: People don’t generally engage in moral reasoning,...but moral rationalization: they begin with the conclusion, coughed up by an unconscious emotion, and then work backward to a plausible justification."

Comments

[cheerfulolygirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing!

Maybe most important: "in any conflict in which a meeting of the minds is not completely hopeless, a recognition that the other guy is acting from moral rather than venal reasons can be a first patch of common ground. One side can acknowledge the other’s concern for community or stability or fairness or dignity, even while arguing that some other value should trump it in that instance." (page 8)

And "Our habit of moralizing problems, merging them with intuitions of purity and contamination, and resting content when we feel the right feelings, can get in the way of doing the right thing.
"Far from debunking morality, then, the science of the moral sense can advance it, by allowing us to see through the illusions that evolution and culture have saddled us with and to focus on goals we can share and defend." (page 8)

When I feel righteous about something, I get a terrific endorphin rush, but it is good to remember that moralizing may not be pointing me towards the greatest good for myself or others.

Interestingly, I felt little moralization against Haidt's 3 examples on page 2, but I am still undecided about both scenarios of saving 5 by acting to sacrifice one (also on page 2). Maybe I have worked hard to use utilitarian reasoning for so many years, that I do not notice any initial non-utilitarian reaction?

As for judging the spheres (page 4), I fit neatly with most liberals in being very concerned about harm and fairness. I may even care less about purity, authority and group loyalty than a typical liberal.

Bonus: I was quite amused by "When psychologists say “most people” they usually mean “most of the two dozen sophomores who filled out a questionnaire for beer money.”"