August 31, 2017: Kurt Gray

(University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

http://www.kurtjgray.com/

Moral Judgment Explained

Moral judgment has been long misunderstood because we misunderstand the nature of harm.
Rather than an objective matter of reason, harm is an intuitively perceived continuum. This
redefinition provides a new understanding of moral content and mechanism—the constructionist
Theory of Dyadic Morality (TDM). TDM suggests that acts are condemned proportional to three
elements: norm violations, negative affect and—importantly—perceived harm. This harm is
dyadic, involving an intentional agent causing damage to a vulnerable patient (A→P). TDM
argues against intuitive harmless wrongs, modular “foundations,” the distinctness of purity, and
the specialness of disgust. However, TDM embraces moral pluralism through varieties of values
and the flexibility of perceived harm.