The evolution of moral dispositions in the human species.

Abstract

Kohlberg's model of moral development is viewed from the perspective of evolutionary biology. Moral judgments defining Kohlberg's stages of moral development are seen as manifestations of structures evolved to uphold systems of cooperation. Game theory research on adaptive strategies of cooperation supports the conclusion that humans inherit dispositions to uphold the systems of cooperation implicit in the first three stages in Kohlberg's sequence, but not the systems of cooperation implicit in the highest stages. The empirical evidence on real-life morality is more consistent with a biological model of ontogenesis than is the model espoused by Kohlbergians. Although people occasionally make moral judgments in their everyday lives to reveal their solutions to moral dilemmas, as Kohlberg's model assumes, they more often make moral decisions that advance their adaptive interests.