Biological Foundations of Moral Norms

This chapter argues that to answer questions about how moral norms originate and spread, the biological foundations of the mental mechanisms that give rise to moral norms and other aspects of culture must be attended to.

Abstract

All people acquire beliefs about how they should and should not behave. When such beliefs are adopted by most members of a culture, they constitute moral norms. How do moral norms originate and spread? Why do people preach them and behave in accordance with them? Why are some moral norms universal, and others relative to particular cultures? In this chapter we argue that to answer such questions, we must attend to the biological foundations of the mental mechanisms that give rise to moral norms and other aspects of culture.