Human Morality: Love or Fear, Partnership or Domination

Abstract

David Loye pointed us to one of Charles Darwin’s aims that often has been overlooked, to explain the evolution of humanity’s moral sense. Most people focus on Darwin’s aim to explain speciation, changes in traits across generations. In studying the moral sense, Darwin assumed it was innate, though he found it more evident among non-Western peoples he met than among his British compatriots. His finding is not a surprise if you understand when and how most human sociomoral capacities are shaped—after birth, by immersive experience. Humanity’s evolved developmental niche, or evolved nest, appears to be crucial for the development of moral sense because it provides the support needed to optimize the development of psychosocial neurobiological systems. To reestablish and maintain the moral sense, humanity needs to restore the provision of the evolved nest to all people, especially children.