Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Moral Psychology
- Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology
- The Cambridge Handbook of Moral Psychology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Modern Moral Psychology
- Part I Building Blocks
- Part II Thinking and Feeling
- Part III Behavior
- Part IV Origins, Development, and Variation
- 17 Grounding Moral Psychology in Evolution, Neurobiology, and Culture
- 18 Moral Babies? Evidence for Core Moral Responses in Infants and Toddlers
- 19 An Integrative Approach to Moral DevelopmentDuring Adolescence
- 20 Morality in Culture
- Part V Applications and Extensions
- Index
- References
17 - Grounding Moral Psychology in Evolution, Neurobiology, and Culture
from Part IV - Origins, Development, and Variation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 February 2025
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Moral Psychology
- Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology
- The Cambridge Handbook of Moral Psychology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Modern Moral Psychology
- Part I Building Blocks
- Part II Thinking and Feeling
- Part III Behavior
- Part IV Origins, Development, and Variation
- 17 Grounding Moral Psychology in Evolution, Neurobiology, and Culture
- 18 Moral Babies? Evidence for Core Moral Responses in Infants and Toddlers
- 19 An Integrative Approach to Moral DevelopmentDuring Adolescence
- 20 Morality in Culture
- Part V Applications and Extensions
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter of the handbook proposes a developmental ethics, an organic moral theory grounded in (1) humanity’s deep evolutionary history, (2) the malleability of the child’s neurobiological structures that undergird moral functioning, and (3) the influence of cultural practices on neurobiological development. The chapter addresses the following questions: What kind of creature are we? What qualities do we need to live a full life? What kinds of capacities make each a proper member of the species? What influences our development? Answers center around perhaps the most critical influence on human development, our species’ evolved nest. In humanity’s ancestral context, nestedness is a lifelong experience with particular import in early life. Moral virtue emerges from holistically coordinated physiological, psychological, spiritual systems oriented toward holistic communal harmony, social attunement, receptivity, and interpersonal flexibility. Understanding how the evolved nest scaffolds biopsychosocial and moral development reveals why antisocial behavior is so pervasive in modern Western culture – and it provides a baseline for redesigning society to promote prosociality.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Moral Psychology , pp. 409 - 432Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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