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51. Morality appears to be much more than a “learned trait”

http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/03/02/bad-behavior-leaves-bad-taste-in-mouth/4482.html

[font face=Times, Times New Roman, Serif][font size=5]Bad Behavior Leaves Bad Taste In Mouth[/font]

By Rick Nauert PhD
Senior News Editor

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In the study, the scientists examined facial movements when participants tasted unpleasant liquids and looked at photographs of disgusting objects such as dirty toilets or injuries.

They compared these to their facial movements when they were subjected to unfair treatment in a laboratory game. The U of T team found that people make similar facial movements in response to both primitive forms of disgust and moral disgust.

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“We found that people show activation of this muscle region in all three situations — when tasting something bad, looking at something disgusting and experiencing unfairness,” says Chapman.

“These results shed new light on the origins of morality, suggesting that not only do complex thoughts guide our moral compass, but also more primitive instincts related to avoiding potential toxins,” says Adam Anderson, principal investigator on the project and the Canada Research Chair in Affective Neuroscience.

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http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/2007/April/April%2016/DeWaal.htm

[font face=Times, Times New Roman, Serif]April 16, 2007
[font size=5]De Waal sides with Darwin: Morality is instinctual, evolved[/font]

by emily rios

[font size=3]"Darwin was right,” said Frans de Waal during his “Morality and Primate Social Behavior” presentation to a capacity-filled room at the recent 2007 Sheth Distinguished Lecture. De Waal, director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and a C.H. Candler Professor of Psychology at Emory, agreed with Darwin’s emphasis on continuity with animals even in the moral domain: “Any animal endowed with well-marked social instincts . . . would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as soon as its intellectual powers had become as well developed, or nearly as well developed, as in man.”

Contradicting this theory are the beliefs of 19th-century philosopher Thomas Henry Huxley. De Waal noted that Huxley believed that humans are selfish and competitive, and human morality is nothing more than a facade. This “veneer theory,” as de Waal calls it, suggests human morality is a departure from nature and humans are essentially bad to the core.

Siding with Darwin, de Waal discounted this theory in his presentation just as he does in his latest book, “Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved.” De Waal shared his belief that human morality grows from our genes and the traits that define morality — empathy, reciprocity, reconciliation and consolation — can be seen in many animals, most particularly in primates.

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De Waal cited an example of a female bonobo who attempted to help a small bird. “Kuni picked up the starling with one hand and climbed to the highest point of the highest tree where she wrapped her legs around the trunk so that she had both hands free to hold the bird. She then carefully unfolded its wings and spread them wide open, one wing in each hand. Having seen birds in flight many times, she seemed to have a notion of what would be good for a bird.”

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