PSYCH 217 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Naturalistic Fallacy, Fallacy, Neurology
13 Feb 2016
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Our goal in this class is to decode what makes something cruel or kind . Important point #1 - don"t commit the naturalistic fallacy. What is typical does not determine what is right. We have to be careful to not commit what is called the naturalistic fallacy: this behavior is natural" (or evolved or typical); therefore, this behavior is moral" . Our goal is not to condemn or praise, but to understand. Biological understanding doesn"t say what should be . Important point #2 - evolution matters: don"t ignore our species" evolved characteristics. Being aware of the naturalistic fallacy protects us from incorrectly arguing that there is a biological basis for determining our values. But, we also must guard against assuming that we can easily create any kind of moral system we want. Our brains and our culture are rooted in the evolutionary history of our species. Our moral intuitions are influenced by our brain and our species-typical social structure.
