The evolutionary model of empathy: Do non-human primates have building blocks of morality?

Abstract

Empathy represents the capacity of an individual to directly experience others? emotional states. Psychologist Stephanie Preston and primatologist Frans de Waal proposed the evolutionary model of empathy based on the common-coding theory of perception and action. In this paper, I will examine the emotional and cognitive aspects of their account of empathy, as well as its significance for the evolution of psychological altruism and morality. In the same context, I will also examine the experimental evidence on empathy based altruistic helping in children and non-human primates whose behavioral patterns indicate the presence of what de Wall calls the building blocks of morality. Finally, I will try to answer how the building blocks of morality relate to morality as a full-blown phenomenon.