This is just a note that my paper and video presentation, "The Dark Side of Morality: Group Polarization and Moral-Belief Formation", are now posted at this year's Minds Online conference. Here's the paper's abstract:
This article demonstrates that laypeople and philosophers commonly conceptualize moral truths as discoverable through the use of our cognitive faculties. It then argues that three empirically well-supported theories predict that this ‘Discovery Model’ of morality plays a substantial role in causing group polarization—a phenomenon known to produce a wide variety of disturbing social effects, including increasing prejudice, selfishness, divisiveness, mistrust, and violence. The same three empirical theories are then used to argue that an alternative ‘Negotiation Model’ of morality I defend in Rightness as Fairness—according to which most moral truths are not discovered but instead created by negotiating compromises—promises to not only prevent polarization but actually promote its opposite: a progressive willingness to “work across the aisle” to settle contentious moral issues cooperatively. Finally, I explain how the Negotiation Model properly distinguishes between morally legitimate and illegitimate forms of negotiation, prohibiting compromise with inherently oppressive moral views.
Two commentaries on my paper, one by Michael Bishop (Florida State) and another by Hrishikesh Joshi (Michigan, Ann Arbor), are also up. Public comments will open on Monday, along with my response to each commentary--and comments will remain open until Saturday. Finally, our own Helen De Cruz is scheduled to give the first session's keynote, so keep an eye out for her presentation as well.
I'm still in Georgia on the run from Hurricane Irma, and my thoughts are with everyone in Florida. But I hope you all find the paper interesting, and look forward to a great discussion and conference.
Comments