Moral Minds: The Evolution of Human MoralityMoral Minds: The Evolution of Human Morality
All In The Mind
Incest, infanticide, honour killings - different cultures have different rules of justice. But are we all born with a moral instinct - an innate ability to judge what is right and wrong? Could morality be like language - a universal, unconscious grammar common to all human cultures? Eminent evolutionary biologist Marc Hauser and philosopher Richard Joyce take on these controversial questions in impressive new tomes, and to critical acclaim. But could their evolutionary arguments undermine the social authority of morality? Is biology the new 'religion'?
29:51•25 Nov 2006
Moral Minds and Hidden Rules: Is Right and Wrong Wired Into Us?
Episode Overview
- Humans may share an unconscious "moral grammar" that shapes intuitive judgements across cultures, even when surface rules differ.
- People’s moral judgements often conflict with their actual behaviour, suggesting hidden cognitive rules are at work.
- Experiments such as the trolley problem show consistent patterns in how people weigh harm, intention and consequences.
- Evolutionary accounts of morality can explain why cooperation and reciprocity matter, but they do not by themselves justify moral rules.
- Religious and non‑religious people may respond similarly to abstract moral dilemmas, hinting that some moral intuitions run deeper than doctrine.
“What we're trying to uncover here is what I refer to in my book as a moral grammar, a set of principles that are completely unconscious, but that nonetheless drive the nature of our intuitive judgments.”
Gain insights from experts on how human beings make moral choices, as this episode of All In The Mind tackles one big question: are people born with a built‑in moral instinct? Host Natasha Mitchell talks with Harvard evolutionary biologist Mark Hauser and University of Sydney philosopher Richard Joyce, who each have new books out on the evolution of morality.
Together they unpack the idea that morality may function like language – a universal "moral grammar" that every child is born ready to use, but which each culture fills with its own rules. Hauser explains that his research focuses on what people judge to be right or wrong, rather than what they actually do.
As he puts it, "what we're trying to uncover here is what I refer to in my book as a moral grammar, a set of principles that are completely unconscious, but that nonetheless drive the nature of our intuitive judgments." Classic dilemmas like the trolley problem show how most people accept sacrificing one life to save five in one scenario, yet strongly reject a very similar option in another, hinting at hidden principles beneath our snap judgements.
Joyce raises the uncomfortable flip side: if morality grew out of evolutionary pressures – helping our ancestors "make more babies" – does that shake its authority? He argues that explaining where moral judgements come from doesn't automatically justify them, and might even force us to question them more carefully.
The conversation ranges from children’s early sense of right and wrong, to psychopaths who seem to know moral rules but "just don't care", to whether religious belief actually changes the pattern of moral decisions. If you're curious about why certain actions feel absolutely off‑limits, or why people from very different backgrounds can respond so similarly to moral puzzles, this episode gives you plenty to chew on – and may leave you asking where your own moral instincts really come from.
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