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The Origins of Human Morality: Complex Socio-moral Evaluations by Preverbal Infants

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New Frontiers in Social Neuroscience

Part of the book series: Research and Perspectives in Neurosciences ((NEUROSCIENCE,volume 21))

Abstract

This chapter reviews a body of recent research suggesting that the capacity to identify and evaluate others based on their prosocial and antisocial acts operates within the first year of life, and is sensitive to many of the same factors that constrain adults’ social and moral judgments, including the role of mental states and context in distinguishing good and bad behavior. The work is offered as empirical support for claims that human capacities for social and moral evaluation are rooted in evolved, reliably-developing systems for distinguishing friend from foe, required for the long-term functioning of cooperative systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UBC Department of Psychology, University of Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    J. Kiley Hamlin

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  1. J. Kiley Hamlin
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Correspondence to J. Kiley Hamlin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Jean Decety

  2. Fondation IPSEN pour la Recherche Therapeutique, Boulogne Billancourt Cedex, France

    Yves Christen

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Hamlin, J.K. (2014). The Origins of Human Morality: Complex Socio-moral Evaluations by Preverbal Infants. In: Decety, J., Christen, Y. (eds) New Frontiers in Social Neuroscience. Research and Perspectives in Neurosciences, vol 21. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02904-7_10

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