Moral Psychology Is a Hodgepodge

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The way the mind really worked is it's a hodgepodge. I don't think we have any sort of moral principles in that simple sense baked into our heads. We have systems that have evolved to deal with our kin those we love. The only with friends and they were getting to sort of different evolutionary story reciprocal altruism. Deal with strangers and that's entirely different story altogether. Part of this is hardwired but part of it is of course cultural. Your views on slavery, your views on what you owe to strangers will be very different to your ancestors 200 years ago because just how you were raised. And so it's not going to be a complete coherent story. Some of

How does the brain — a three-pound gelatinous mass — give rise to intelligence and conscious experience? Was Freud right that we are all plagued by forbidden sexual desires? What is the function of emotions such as disgust, gratitude, and shame? Renowned psychologist Paul Bloom answers these questions and many more in Psych, his riveting new book about the science of the mind.

Shermer and Bloom discuss: neuroscience • human nature • religion • souls • consciousness • Freud • sex and desire • Skinner • development • language • perception • memory • rationality • appetites • differences and disorders • the good life • happiness.

Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, and the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. His research explores the psychology of morality, identity, and pleasure. Bloom is the recipient of multiple awards and honors, including, most recently, the million-dollar Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize. He has written for scientific journals such as Natureand Science, and for the New York Times, the New Yorker, and the Atlantic Monthly. He is the author or editor of eight books, including Against Empathy, Just Babies, How Pleasure Works, Descartes’ Baby, The Sweet Spot, and Psych: The Story of the Human Mind.