Are There Other Factors That Affect Moral Consideration?
Mind reading seems to be most obvious, a kind of capacity that's relevant to the expansion of moral circle. Some people whohave noticed that beauty, aesthetic tion of other kinds of animals or landscapes or beings increases our moral regard to them. Ah, so there are quite a lot of different attributions that go into making a decision about whether something is deserving of moral concern. Other factors like uniqueness also matter.
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I was raised in the tradition of believing that everyone is of equal moral worth. But when I scrutinise my daily practices, I don’t think I can honestly say that I act as if everyone is of equal moral worth. The idea that some people belong within the circle of moral concern and some do not is central to many moral systems. But what affects the dynamics of the moral circle? How does it contract and expand? Can it expand indefinitely? In this episode I discuss these questions with Joshua Rottman. Josh is an associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Program in Scientific and Philosophical Studies of Mind at Franklin and Marshall College. His research is situated at the intersection of cognitive development and moral psychology, and he primarily focuses on studying the factors that lead certain entities and objects to be attributed with (or stripped of) moral concern.
