Lindsay G. Aiken
Introduction
Morality is the capstone which holds modern, civilized society together. It is the basis
for our civil codes and also our general treatment towards other human and nonhuman beings.
Morality is what halts humanity from tipping over the precipice into anarchy. With this
understand the mechanics behind morality. This search spans across the topics of psychology,
culture, and even religion. Even though people are looking in many different places and
fields, they are all aiming to answer the same questions: What is the source(s) of morality, and
What is Morality?
This question is not commonly disputed between researchers as are the rest, because it
is just a simple definition. According to a paper published at the University of San Diego,
morality is “the system through which we determine right and wrong conduct” (The Nature
of…). There is a common misconception in the public between morality and ethics. When
people hear “ethics” they commonly think of it associated with the definition that morality
carries. However, ethics is actually not a synonym of morality. Instead, ethics is “the
This is where people start disagreeing on who is right and wrong. On a website
supported by University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the writer acknowledged that a list
SOURCE OF MORALITY 3
of potentially correct sources of morality includes culture, religion, feelings, pain and
pleasure, interests, rationality, rights, relationships, and character (What Makes Things, 2018).
Another website, again supported by the University of San Diego, did not disagree
with the above source, but it gave names to every potential source of morality. In “Moral
determined by the overall worth of whatever action you are debating, in “Kantian Theory” it
As for the neural path that moral decisions take, one study by scientists Young and
Dungan mapped the neural processes found in moral decision making. What they found was
not a single part of the brain devoted to moral thinking and decision making, but a
However, we cannot declare these brain structures that work together to produce
“finding the uniquely moral brain would mean finding brain regions that are
not only dedicated exclusively to moral cognition but also dedicated to all of
moral cognition, across diverse moral contexts (e.g., harm, fairness, loyalty,
respect, purity). In other words, the moral brain would have to manage only
moral judgments and all moral judgments” (Young & Dungan, 2012).
The moral brain is created through a combination of the emotional and social brains.
The VMPC is the key emotional region of the brain involved in moral reasoning and the RTPJ
is the key social region of the brain involved in moral reasoning. It is through a combination
of these and other less crucial areas that our brains are able to process and make decisions of
moral dilemmas.
The argument on whether or not Religion has a role in morality revolves around
Euthyphro’s Dilemma conceptualized. Essentially, is something good because God wills it, or
does God will something because it is good? For the purposes of this review it boils down to
the question of if religion created morality or if it was formed around a preexisting sense of it.
Those who believe religion created morality argue that without God, there would be
nothing to base our concepts of “right” and “wrong” on and without him we would have never
However, those who do not believe that religion creates morality cite studies such as
the one reported on by Emily Underwood which conclude that “Religious and nonreligious
people are equally prone to immoral acts” (Underwood, 2011). Studies also show that legal
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(McCauley, 2012).
Conclusion
After digesting this research, it can be concluded that human’s sense of morality is a
complex beast with interwoven innate and external sources. Ad we cannot definitively prove
any of the proposed hypotheses, all of them must be considered and respected until science
Research List
[drcraigvideos]. (2015, Jan 21). The Moral Argument [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxiAikEk2vU
Graham, J., Meindl, P., Beall, E., Johnson, K. M., & Zhang, L. (2016). Cultural differences in
moral judgment and behavior, across and within societies. Current Opinion in
Psychology, 8, 125-130.
McCauley, R. N. (2012, March 22). Are Religious People More Moral than Atheists?
religion-is-natural-and-science-is-not/201203/are-religious-people-more-moral-
atheists
The Nature of Morality and Moral Theories. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2018, from
http://home.sandiego.edu/~baber/gender/MoralTheories.html
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Underwood, E. (2011, September 11). Religious or not, we all misbehave. Retrieved March
misbehave
matteson/module-2-what-is-ethics/what-makes-things-right-or-wrong/.
Young, L., & Dungan, J. (2012). Where in the brain is morality? Everywhere and maybe
Graham, J., Meindl, P., Beall, E., Johnson, K. M., & Zhang, L. (2016). Cultural differences in
moral judgment and behavior, across and within societies. Current Opinion in
Psychology, 8, 125-130.
White, F. A., & Matawie, K. M. (2004). Parental morality and family processes as predictors