#671 Victor Kumar - A Better Ape: The Evolution of the Moral Mind and How it Made us Human
RECORDED ON JULY 15th 2022.
Dr. Victor Kumar is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Boston University. He is director of the Mind and Morality Lab. He is also a member of the interdisciplinary Moral Psychology Research Group. His primary philosophical interests are in ethics, cognitive science, and evolutionary theory. He also has interests in epistemology, philosophy of mind, feminist philosophy, and philosophy of race. He is the author (with Richmond Campbell) of A Better Ape: The Evolution of the Moral Mind and How it Made us Human.
In this episode, we focus on A Better Ape. We first present the gene-culture coevolution framework used in the book. We talk about the evolution of human altruism. We get into the three ingredients of the moral mind: core moral emotions (sympathy, loyalty, trust, respect, guilt, shame, resentment, and indignation); core moral norms (harm, kinship, reciprocity, autonomy, and fairness); and a capacity for open-ended moral reasoning. We discuss moral intuition, and why moral reasoning is not all about post-hoc rationalization. We talk about moral progress, and the role of ideas. We talk about institutional moralities. We discuss the role of religion, and moral philosophy. We ask if it is possible to a universal ethical code. Finally, we talk about political correctness, and a theoretical framework to addressing injustice and inequality.
Time Links:
Intro
Gene-culture coevolution
The evolution of human altruism
Core moral emotions
Are these emotions innate?
Inequality in ancient and traditional societies
Core moral norms
Moral intuition
Moral reasoning. Why is it not all about post-hoc rationalization?
Moral progress. Do ideas matter?
Institutional moralities
The role of religion
Moral philosophy
Is it possible to develop a universal ethical code?
Does political correctness harm society?
A theoretical framework to addressing injustice and inequality
Follow Dr. Kumar’s work!
Follow Dr. Kumar’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3JqjtEA
Website: https://bit.ly/3JkDWKU
PhilPeople page: https://bit.ly/37u7Vlw
A Better Ape: https://amzn.to/3OedxAD