This book addresses the question of what it means to be moral and the capacities one needs to be moral. It examines the role of internal factors such as willpower, commitment and character as well as the role of external, situational and structural factors.

This book addresses the question of what it means to be moral and which capacities one needs to be moral. It questions whether empathy is a cognitive or an affective capacity, or perhaps both. As most moral beings behave immorally from time to time, the authors ask which factors cause or motivate people to translate their moral beliefs into action? Specially addressed is the question of what is the role of internal factors such as willpower, commitment, character, and what is the role of external, situational and structural factors? The questions are considered from various (disciplinary) perspectives.

Deals with the role of social and historical factors of morality Discusses whether animals can be said to have a morality Contains revealing case-studies, e.g., on the Holocaust, on terrorism, and on Vico Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Inhalt
Preface Bert Musschenga: What makes us moral? An introduction Part I: Morality, evolution and rationality Alejandro Rosas: Rationality and deceit; Why rational egoism cannot make us moralKatharine Browne: Two problems of cooperationCatherine Herfeld and Katrien Schaubroeck: The importance of commitment; How Harry Frankfurt's concept of care contributes to Rational Choice TheoryMarkus Christen and Thomas Ott: Quantified coherence of moral beliefs as predictive factor for moral agency Part II: Morality and the continuity between human and nonhuman primates Bert Musschenga: Animal morality and human moralityFlorian Cova: Two kinds of moral competence; Moral agent, moral judgeAndrés Luco: Humean moral motivationHarry Wels: Whispering empathy; Transdisciplinary reflections on research methodology Part III: Nativism and non-nativism Jessy Giroux: The origin of moral norms and the role of innate dispositionsCarsten Fogh Nielsen: It's complicated Moral nativism, moral input, and moral developmentJulia Hermann: Learning to be moralGerben Meynen: Why mental disorders can diminish responsibility; Proposing a theoretical frameworkDarcia Narvaez: Natural morality, moral natures and human flourishing Part IV: Religion and (im)morality Stephen Maitzen: Atheism and the basis of moralityAnton van Harskamp: What makes the martyr (im)moral?Bettine Siertsema: Moral lessons from monstrosity; The Kindly Ones and the reader Part V: Morality beyond naturalism David Rose: Society and the origin of moral law: Giambattista Vico and non-reductive naturalismAdam Seligman: Enacting the moral: concrete particularity and subjunctivespace About the authors Index of names and subjects