Psychological Realism, Morality, and Chimpanzees

Author: Harnden-Warwick D.

Source: Zygon, Volume 32, Number 1, March 1997 , pp. 29-40(12)

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Abstract:

The parsimonious consideration of research into food sharing among chimpanzees suggests that the type of social regulation found among our closest genetic relatives can best be understood as a form of morality. Morality is here defined from a naturalistic perspective as a system in which self-aware individuals interact through socially prescribed, psychologically realistic rules of conduct which provide these individuals with an awareness of how one ought to behave. The empirical markers of morality within chimpanzee communities and the traditional moral traits to which they correspond are (1) self-awareness/agency; (2) calculated reciprocity/obligation; (3) moralistic aggression/blame; and (4) consolation/empathy.

Keywords: moral selfhood; naturalism; primatology; reciprocity; sociobiology

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/0591-2385.681997068

Affiliations: 1: Emory University

Publication date: 1997-03-01