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Evolution of Our Moral Intuitions
April 26, 2007
Marc Hauser psychologist

Marc Hauser argues that morality, at some level, may be hard-wired into our brains, as an innate "moral grammar" that has evolved with us over time.

How do we decide what is morally right and wrong? Historically, there have been two answers to this question. Either the human mind deliberates moral judgments based on a set of principles or the mind relies on intuitions mediated by emotions. Hauser contends that an innate, intuitive mechanism may be more important in what shapes our moral decision than what we learn from school, church, or family.

Listen to a complementary interview with Marc Hauser on Thoughcast.org, a podcast and public radio interview program on authors, academics and intellectuals.

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Image of Moral Minds: The Nature of Right and Wrong (P.S.)
Author: Marc Hauser
Publisher: Harper Perennial (2007)
Binding: Paperback, 528 pages
Image of Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong
Author: Marc Hauser
Publisher: Ecco (2006)
Binding: Hardcover, 512 pages
Image of Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think
Author: Ph.D. Marc Hauser
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (2001)
Binding: Paperback, 336 pages
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Publisher: The MIT Press (1997)
Binding: Paperback, 771 pages
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