What would happen if everyone did that? It’s a simple question, but new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that it means so much more. “Why not pick ...

Individuals who have a high level of moral reasoning show increased activity in the brain's frontostriatal reward system, both during periods of rest and while performing a sequential risk taking and ...

Understanding how people make decisions in extreme hypothetical situations illuminates how people make decisions and act in everyday life, says developmental psychologist Audun Dahl. “Almost every ...

Kohlberg's theory of moral development outlines six stages across three levels, showing how people progress in moral reasoning from obeying rules to following universal ethical principles. Parents and ...

Every day we encounter circumstances we consider wrong: a starving child, a corrupt politician, an unfaithful partner, a fraudulent scientist. These examples highlight several moral issues, including ...

History shows the danger of treating war as sacred and certain. The recovery of disciplined moral reasoning is, therefore, essential: the task is not only to judge wars, but to resist the language ...

Many scientists are cynical about moral reasoning. They claim that humans do not reason about right and wrong to improve their moral perspectives, they do so to justify themselves to others. Reasoning ...

Editor’s note: Books discussed in this essay include Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind; Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow; Bruce Schneier’s Liars and Outliers; and Jim Manzi’s Uncontrolled.