?Do we have free will? What counts as justice in the Peruvian Amazon? Does evolutionary theory make ethics a sham? Is Catherine Zeta-Jones objectively hotter than Drew Barrymore?
These are just a few of the questions that philosopher Tamler Sommers attempts to answer in his interviews with ten acclaimed researchers in the burgeoning field of moral psychology.
Philip Zimbardo discusses his famous Stanford Prison Experiment, why he had to stop the study after only six days, and how what happened sheds light on the abuses of Abu Ghraib. Harvard neuroscientist Joshua Greene and Liane Young use MRI machines to investigate the neuroscience behind moral judgment. Jonathan Haidt tells us why we think sleeping with our siblings is wrong and how this relates to the clash between liberals and conservatives. Renowned primatologist Frans de Waal explains what his research on chimpanzees and bonobos can tell us about love and war. And much more.
A Very Bad Wizard is essential reading for anyone curious about the origins and inner workings of our moral lives.
Introduction: Questions for the interviewer 1
Part 1 How free are we? 7
You cannot make yourself the way you are. Galen Strawson 9
The power of the situation. Philip Zimbardo 29
Part 2 Where did morality come from? What is it? Wliere is it going? 61
Lessons from our primate relatives. Franz deWaal 63
The illusion of objectivity in ethics. Michael Ruse 85
Relative justice Joseph Henrich 103
Trolley problems Joshua Greene Liane Young 131
Part 3 Bad wizard, good man: Dispelling the illusions of morality 151
Comfortably dumbfounded Jonathan Haidt 153
"I walk the line." Stephen Stich 173
Codes of honor William Ian Miller 207
Selected Reading 235
Overview
?Do we have free will? What counts as justice in the Peruvian Amazon? Does evolutionary theory make ethics a sham? Is Catherine Zeta-Jones objectively hotter than Drew Barrymore?
These are just a few of the questions that philosopher Tamler Sommers attempts to answer in his interviews with ten acclaimed researchers in the burgeoning field of moral psychology.
Philip Zimbardo discusses his famous Stanford Prison Experiment, why he had to stop the study after only six days, and ...