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Moral judgment as reasoning by constraint satisfaction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2019

Keith J. Holyoak Open the ORCID record for Keith J. Holyoak [Opens in a new window]  and
Derek Powell
Keith J. Holyoak
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA [email protected]://reasoninglab.psych.ucla.edu
Derek Powell
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA [email protected]://www.derekmpowell.com
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Abstract

May's careful examination of empirical evidence makes a compelling case against the primacy of emotion in driving moral judgments. At the same time, emotion certainly is involved in moral judgments. We argue that emotion interacts with beliefs, values, and moral principles through a process of coherence-based reasoning (operating at least partially below the level of conscious awareness) in generating moral judgments and decisions.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e156
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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