Is There A Natural Moral Sense?

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Is There A Natural Moral Sense

• Dr. Sally Ferguson
• Philosophy and Religious Studies
• University of West Florida

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Cognitive ethology the study of animal minds

• Imitative octopi and the conditions for the
  evolution of culture
  
• Example is not the main thing in influencing
  others it is the only thing Albert
  Schweitzer
  

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Cognitive ethology tells us that our close
primate relatives

• Reason like us

Communicate like us
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Cognitive ethologys next frontier ethics

• What features of our moral sense do we share in
  common with other animals

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A central feature of our moral sense

• ALTRUISM or a concern for the welfare of others
  even at the expense of our own.
  

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But WAIT!

• Evolution is selfish genes and nature red in
  tooth and claw.
  
• Morality requires us to be unselfish.
• How can evolution produce morality

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The explanationMulti-level thinking in
evolutionary biology

• From the point of view of our genes
• sex is simply about replication
• but from our point of view it feels good.
• From the point of view of our genes
• food keeps us alive so we can reproduce
• but from our point of view it is tasty.

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The ultimate example family

• From the point of view of our genes
• the value of family is that it replicates our
  genes
  
• but we reproduce because it gives us joy.

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Understanding evolved altruism

• If altruism evolved it is because it promotes
  our survival and reproduction.
  
• But the evolutionary value of altruism neednt be
  the value of altruism TO US.
  

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So far so good

• Morality involves altruism and
• Ok so maybe altruism COULD have evolved.
• But is there any evidence that it DID evolve
• One kind of evidence would be from cognitive
  ethology.
  
• Our next question do other animals show altruism

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Cognitive ethology tells us that

• Altruism is common in the animal world
• care of offspring other than ones own
• food-sharing
• alerting others to the presence of food
• warning others of predators
• preventing disputes
• aiding reconciliation
• even protecting the disabled

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But is animal altruism true altruism

• True altruism is a concern for the general
  welfare of others even those far removed from
  us regardless of any gain for ourselves.

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Some animal altruism is kin selection

• Kin Selection acting to benefit ones close
  relatives at the expense of oneself or ones own
  offspring.
  
• Example Nursing lions
• Note the role of gene-selectionism in this
  reasoning
  

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Some animal altruism is reciprocal altruism

• Reciprocal altruism acting to benefit another
  with the expectation of a return of the favor.
  
• Example Political alliances among chimps.
• Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis Brain
  growth in primates and hominids due to demands of
  navigating social arena

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True Human AltruismThe Ultimatum Game

• The Ultimatum Game (Gintis et al)
• In the ultimatum game under conditions of
  anonymity two players are shown a sum of money
  say 10.
  
• One of the players called the proposer is
  instructed to offer any number of dollars from
  1 to 10 to the second player who is called
  the responder. The proposer can make only one
  offer.
• The responder again under conditions of
  anonymity can either accept or reject this
  offer. If the responder accepts the offer the
  money is shared accordingly. If the responder
  rejects the offer both players receive nothing.

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Ultimatum Strategy

• Since the game is played only once and the
  players do not know each others identity a
  self-interested responder will accept any
  positive amount of money.
• Knowing this a self-interested proposer will
  offer the minimum possible amount 1 and this
  will be accepted.

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Ultimatum Surprise!

• However when actually played the
  self-interested outcome is never attained and
  never even approximated.
  
• In fact as many replications of this experiment
  have documented under varying conditions and
  with varying amounts of money proposers
  routinely offer respondents very substantial
  amounts (50 of the total generally being the
  modal offer) and respondents frequently reject
  offers below 30.

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Ultimatums Worldwide

• Twelve experienced field researchers working in
  12 countries on four continents recruited
  subjects from 15 small-scale societies exhibiting
  a wide variety of economic and cultural
  conditions.
• The canonical model of self-interested behavior
  is not supported in any society studied. In the
  ultimatum game for example in all societies
  either respondents or proposers or both
  behaved in a reciprocal manner.

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Back to animal altruism

• Some is kin selection not general
• Some is reciprocal altruism not general
• Do animals ever show concern for members of their
  group who are
  
• Not closely related and
• with whom they have no specific contract

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Some animal altruism looks more like true
altruism

• Food Sharing vampire bats
• Food is shared with non-relatives with no direct
  payback
  

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More true altruism

• Signaling of predators and prey vervet monkeys
  ravens
  
• Predators are signaled to entire colony at great
  risk to signaler

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So far so good

• Altruistic behavior of all sorts is found in
  animals of all sorts
  
• Kin selection
• Reciprocal altruism
• Even group concern
• Next question On a more general level what does
  it take for evolution to get morality started

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Tit for Tat

• Robert Axelrod discovered by computer simulation
  that tit for tat is the winning strategy in
  reciprocal situations.
  
• Always assume a trusting position to start
• Punish cheaters but
• Dont hold a grudge

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Kitcher on Cooperation

• Grooming in primate groups
• Benefits more thorough grooming of places you
  cant reach easily
  
• Costs Time and energy spent grooming others
  could have been spent finding food mates etc.
  
• Risk You might thoroughly groom an individual
  who doesnt thoroughly groom you back

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Cooperative Stategies

• Discriminating Altruist (DA) Always groom
  anyone who hasnt defected on you in the past
  and always cooperate. Never groom anyone who has
  defected on you in the past.
• Willing defector (WD) Always groom anyone (even
  if theyve defected on you in the past) and
  always defect.
  
• Going Solo (SO) Always opt out refuse to
  groom anyone.
  
• Selective defection (SD) Always groom anyone
  who hasnt defected on you in the past and
  always defect.

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Kitcher on Cooperation

• What Kitcher showed
• Assume DA arises by mutation
• If only one DA then the mutation will likely be
  lost over time since fitness benefits will not
  be gained and only a 50 chance of passing it
  on.
• But if TWO DAs arise then that mutation will
  spread and DA will come to dominate over time in
  the population.
  
• Note that Axelrods Tit for Tat experiments
  showed that DA is not the best strategy because
  it is not forgiving enough.

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Conditions for the evolution of altruism

• Group value
• Living in the group provides benefits
  (protection coordinated hunting)
  
• Mutual aid
• Members of the group can assist one another
  (share food form alliances)
  
• Conflicts of interest
• What the individual wants is not always whats
  good for the group as a whole

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Balancing Interests

• Claim one of the functions of our moral sense is
  to allow us to balance individual and collective
  interests when they conflict.
  
• Question how do our primate relatives balance
  those interests

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Balancing conflicting interests the primate way

• Primates balance group and individual interests
  on two levels
  
• Lower level One on one relations
• Direct reciprocation
• Reconciliation
• Higher level Community concern
• Arbitration of disputes
• Group-wide appreciation

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Lower level Direct reciprocation

• Grooming food sharing
• Alphas and lower ranks

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Lower level Reconciliation

• Making up after a fight
• Sometimes winners initiate sometimes losers do

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Higher level Arbitration of disputes

• Intervening before and after fights.
• Role of females in promoting harmony among males

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Higher level Group-wide appreciation

• Female chimp confiscates the stick one male is
  about to hit another with and observers hoot and
  celebrate.
  

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Primate morality

• The conditions for the evolution of morality
  exist in our primate relatives.
  
• Moreover those relatives have evolved ways of
  balancing collective and individual interests.
  
• To the extent that they have done so we can say
  they have some of the elements of a moral sense.

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Reprise Is there a natural moral sense

• Perhaps if our natural moral sense is our sense
  of altruism i.e. our concern for the well-being
  of others whether related or not.
  
• We share this sense with other animals.
• The sense of altruism may ultimately be an
  inheritance of evolution by natural selection.
  

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Humanitys uniqueness

• Superior strengths in
• Language
• Plus a
• Cumulative knowledge base
• Lead to more
• Self-consciousness
• Abstraction
• Absolutism