The Mind of the Composer Part 1: Robert Schumann [on-air edition] + The Moral Mind [podcast edition]The Mind of the Composer Part 1: Robert Schumann [on-air edition] + The Moral Mind [podcast edition]
All In The Mind
Acclaimed doctor and broadcaster Lord Robert Winston excavates the music and mind of composer Robert Schumann, to see if there was a relationship between the two. Schumann died at just 46 in a mental asylum, with speculation today that he had bipolar disorder. For copyright reasons, this week's podcast is an alternative from our archives, The Moral Mind.
30:25•4 Jul 2009
Are We Born With a Moral Compass? Inside the "Moral Mind"
Episode Overview
- Humans may be born with a universal moral "grammar" that shapes quick ethical judgements beneath conscious awareness.
- People often judge actions that cause harm as worse than omissions, and intended harm as worse than foreseen harm, across cultures.
- Classic dilemmas like the trolley problem show that gut moral reactions do not always follow simple logical or utilitarian rules.
- Religious background and belief may shape public moral stances, yet experimental dilemmas reveal many shared intuitions between believers and non-believers.
- Emotions such as guilt and shame can constrain behaviour, but may sit on top of a cooler, automatic moral calculus in the brain.
“"A moral grammar, a set of principles that are completely unconscious, but that nonetheless drive the nature of our intuitive judgments."”
How do people work out what feels "right" or "wrong" long before they can explain why? All in the Mind tackles that puzzle by heading straight into the science and philosophy of morality. Host Natasha Mitchell chats with Harvard evolutionary biologist Mark Hauser and University of Sydney philosopher Richard Joyce, who argue that humans may be born with a kind of moral "grammar" – an unconscious toolkit that shapes our gut reactions to ethical dilemmas.
As Hauser puts it, we might possess "a moral grammar, a set of principles that are completely unconscious, but that nonetheless drive the nature of our intuitive judgments." You’ll hear famous scenarios like the trolley problem, where most people say it’s acceptable to flip a switch to save five lives at the cost of one, yet strongly resist pushing a person to their death to stop the same train.
That flip in judgement, the guests suggest, hints at deep rules in the mind that simple logic can’t fully explain. The conversation ranges from street encounters with homelessness to debates on abortion, euthanasia and religious belief. Hauser’s global "moral sense" studies suggest people from different cultures and faiths often share similar snap moral reactions, even when their public positions clash.
Joyce then presses the tricky question: if morality has evolved to help our ancestors "make more babies", does that shake the authority of our moral rules today? Emotion also gets a serious workout. Psychopaths, childhood development and conditions like autism are used to tease apart whether feelings like guilt and shame drive morality, or whether a cooler, unconscious calculus comes first and emotions simply nudge behaviour.
If you’ve ever wondered why your moral gut sometimes clashes with your actions or your beliefs, this thoughtful, lively conversation offers plenty to chew on. Where do you think your own sense of right and wrong really comes from?
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