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Both reason and emotion inform moral judgements, but which is in the driving seat? SARAH LEE, winner in the undergraduate category, investigates.
A man goes to the supermarket once a week and buys a dead chicken. But before cooking the chicken, he has sexual intercourse with it. Then he cooks it and eats it. (Haidt, 1993)
WHAT is your reaction to this scenario? Is this act right or wrong? Perhaps you are revolted or disgusted, and therefore think it is wrong. Or maybe, like most moral philosophers, you make a more reasoned judgement and argue that, regardless of our emotional response, this act is not immoral, principally because no harm has occurred to any sentient being. If you thought it was wrong, does this sort of reasoning change your mind? Or do you, like most people, still have an uneasy feeling in your stomach? You can't explain why it's wrong - it just 'feels' wrong. Are you what psychologist Jonathan Haidt (2001) would call 'morally dumbfounded'?
Most current theories of moral development are based on a rationalist cognitive approach, which emphasises the role of reason in making moral decisions. It seems, however, from our reactions to the scenario above, that both gut feelings - emotions - and deliberative reasoning play a part in the formation of moral judgements. Contrary to traditional thinking, emotions seem to play the larger role. New hypotheses and research in moral psychology has ignited a fresh debate about whether reason or emotion causes everyday moral judgements prompting a revision of traditional cognitive theories of moral development.
Debates about moral decision-making are not new. In the 18th century, philosopher David Hume noted: There has been a controversy started of late, much better worth examination, concerning the general foundation of Morals; whether they be derived from Reason, or from Sentiment' (Hume, 1777/1902). Hume argued that there are no moral truths, just preferences and values, and that moral judgements are rooted in the emotions. Reason enables us to calculate the most efficient means to an end, but 'Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions'(Hume, 1739/1896).
This approach, known as emotivism, put emotions firmly in the driving seat of moral decision-making. However, it was the cognitive revolution, nearly 200...