The Brights' Net

La moralidad es producto de la evolución y la experiencia humana.

La moralidad es una derivación de la bioquímica evolutiva del cerebro y de las influencias socioculturales. Se muestran algunas de las estructuras neuro-anatómicas asociadas con la moralidad (Pascual et al., 2013).

¿Es la moralidad humana producto de la naturaleza? ¿O de la crianza? En las ciencias sociales se ha debatido intensamente cuál es lo responsable. Y este debate ha sido en gran parte infructuoso. Pareciera que la moralidad es el resultado de la naturaleza y de la crianza.

La naturaleza provee muchos elementos de la psicología moral de la humanidad. Investigación en las ciencias de comportamiento evolucionario ha acumulado sólida evidencia: la base de nuestro cerebro está programado previamente con una predisposición para juicio moral. Estamos equipados para sentir empatía, altruismo y compasión.

Entonces, ¿llegamos todos también totalmente equipados para lo que generalmente se considera un comportamiento inmoral? A causa de nuestros cerebros, los seres humanos somos capaces de violencia. Estamos preparados para causar a veces dolor.

Por naturaleza, los seres humanos estamos inclinados a aprender un comportamiento ético producto del ambiente social. De este modo, durante nuestra vida, la educación está también siempre influyendo. Es importante ser criados por nuestros familiares. El contacto social con amigos, colegas y la comunidad es crítico en la formación de una conducta que determine lo que es “correcto” o “incorrecto”.

Para reconciliar estas partes tan discrepantes que tenemos nosotros, se requiere entender la complejidad social y cognitiva de la humanidad. La investigación nos deja una cosa clara: el imperativo religioso no es necesario para la moralidad. Resultados de investigaciones muestran que dichos sentimientos morales estimulan nuestro interés en ayudar a que otros evolucionen independientemente de la religión.

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Referencias

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The studies linked on this page are accessible via the researchers' websites and other public domain sources. If not linked, those studies are only available via academic journals.