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1 Moral Virtue in the Twenty-First Century1 Thomas Kiefer Abstract: Ethical concerns about policing, immigration, and security have recently sparked renewed national debates and even protests centered on xenophobia. The causes of such problems are often complex, nuanced, and structural. But recent research suggests they have a common basis in the psychological predispositions to form implicit biases and hold negative stereotypes. Counteracting these predispositions requires a framework for understanding why they exist in the first place, which is often left out of ethical accounts. In this essay I provide a framework for identifying and justifying the moral virtues required to meet the ethical challenges posed by twenty-first century societies. This account updates an Aristotelian understanding of moral virtue through reference to recent findings in evolutionary biology. Due to certain changes in social settings, we are presented with unique moral challenges that can only be met through the cultivation of specific moral virtues concerned with cooperation and the avoidance of moral vices concerns with conflict. Categories: Ethics, Evolutionary Biology, Virtue Ethics, Metaethics, Social Issues 0. Introduction Ethical concerns about policing, immigration, and security have recently sparked renewed national debates and even protests centered around xenophobia, especially on college campuses. The causes of such problems are often complex, nuanced, and structural. But recent research suggests they have a common basis in the psychological predispositions to form implicit biases and hold negative stereotypes.2 Acknowledging this is an important part of addressing these ethical concerns. But counteracting these predispositions requires a framework for understanding why they exist in the first place, which is often left out of ethical accounts. As an increasing number of human beings live in or near large urban centers, we are now tasked with coping with an unprecedented level of diversity, impersonality, and complexity. In this essay I provide a framework for identifying and justifying the moral virtues required to meet the ethical challenges posed by twenty-first century societies. This account updates an 1 2 This is a shortened version of the essay. Banaji and Hardin (1996), Kelly and Roedder (2008), Nosek, et al. (2010), Brownstein and Madva (2012). 2 Aristotelian understanding of moral virtue through reference to recent findings in evolutionary biology. I argue that moral virtues should be understood as adaptive forms of evolved psychological predispositions towards cooperating with others that we can identify through the social use of rationality. I then show that due to certain changes in our social settings we are presented with unique moral challenges that can only be met through the cultivation of specific moral virtues concerned with cooperation and the avoidance of specific moral vices concerned with conflict. To the extent that our ancestors evolved in small groups consisting of closely related bands of ingroup kin, we are now predisposed psychologically to form implicit biases and hold negative stereotypes about those who appear to be in an outgroup, whether real or imagined.3 Even if at one point it was adaptive to be skeptical of strangers based on characteristics such as belief and appearance, this tendency today can lead to maladaptive behaviors in contemporary societies in the form of the moral vices of suspicion, hatred, and conflict.4 I update two primary virtues required to live a moral life in light of the ethical problems posed by today’s social environments: temperance and justice. Temperance and justice can be understood as adaptive forms of other-directed self-control and beneficence, respectively. These are not the only moral virtues, but they are among the most important and concern basic requirements of helping and not harming others. 1. Aristotelian Virtue for the Twenty-First Century Recent findings in evolutionary biology can fill the gaps that open up in the Aristotelian account of virtue after rejecting the specifics of his metaphysics. 5 Today we are in a position to Fishbein (1996), Schaller and Conway (1999), Fiske (2000), Hirschfeld (2001), Hammond and Axelrod (2006), Fu, et al. (2012). 4 I use ‘if’ and ‘can’ here to highlight that there is no necessary adaptive effect of these predispositions independent of the environmental context and ingroup favoritism does not in each case result in outgroup fear or hatred as such (see Brewer 1999). 5 The latter half of the 20th century saw a renewed interest in virtue as an approach to ethics, which required justifying its central ideas against modern and contemporary critiques. Perhaps the largest concern since the rise of modern philosophy has been the charge that the account requires a metaphysical framework that cannot be reconciled with recent scientific discoveries. The connection between eudemonia, reason, virtue, and human nature appears to rest on an appeal to things like final ends, special kinds of causation, fixed essences, and teleological purposes inherent in the nature 3 3 explain this relationship without an appeal to final ends, special kinds of causation, fixed essences, or teleological purposes inherent in reality. As a result of the discoveries of organic chemistry and evolutionary biology, we now know that living beings result from physio-chemical processes and the particular features of different organisms result from evolutionary developments known as adaptations by way of natural selection.6 This explains both how life is able to develop in a world of mostly inanimate matter without recourse to vital principles, spontaneous generation, or overarching teleology, while accounting for why different organisms appear tailor-made for their respective environments by way of specific functions or characteristic activities. Through an appeal to evolutionary biology we can also now vindicate a form of the function argument. The function argument is met with such skepticism because it is not clear how things can have functions apart from the way in which they are instrumentally used for human purposes. We must first restrict our focus to life because it is the only kind of naturally-occurring thing with characteristic activities, specifically as a self-replicating system capable of survival and reproduction.7 To understand what living beings are, we must refer to the functions that distinguish them from non-living entities (e.g., activities such as growth, development, response to stimuli, homeostasis, etc.). By defining a living being according to its biological functions, we can apply virtue to it in general as an excellence in surviving and reproducing. For instance, a fern that is able of reality, but not found in contemporary physics or biology, at least not in the same manner. The most prominent neoAristotelians have attempted to defend virtue without this metaphysical appeal. But without this appeal, it becomes unclear how we can properly identify virtue without assuming some relevant understanding of human nature and its characteristic activities.5 And even if this is possible, the question of the kind of moral psychology that justifies the rational basis for claims about moral virtue in an explanatorily satisfying manner appears to remain open. This is often attributed to Anscombe (1958)’s critique of religious morality, and in turn, both the deontological and utilitarian use of the language of moral obligation. Descartes and Bacon had undermined the ancient and medieval essentialism upon which appeals to eudaimonia, rationality, and a fundamental human nature were based. If any appeal to virtue was to survive, it would have to be based in the philosophical subject. There is debate about the necessity of teleological language in biology (Nissen 1997). But in either case the use of teleological language is not meant to signal a larger metaphysical claim about purposes inherent in reality. 6 Garvey (2007). 7 Although there are non-living things in the universe that can be described as systems, such as the solar system, living systems are the only kinds of naturally-occurring things that act in such a way as to preserve themselves over time based on what they are. Contrary to living systems, the solar system results from the relative position of planets around the sun due to gravity, which has no internal mechanism(s) for maintaining these positions through certain activities. 4 to survive and reproduce well exhibits the virtues or excellencies of a living system, whereas one that is unable to take in water, turn sunlight in to useable energy, produce spores, or absorb nutrients from the soil exhibits numerous vices or defects.8 The same reasoning applies to any organism as a living system and accounts for the connection between a living thing’s nature and the ability to use terms like ‘virtue’ and ‘vice’ to simultaneously describe and evaluate it relative to how it would function based solely on its nature and apart from contingencies.9 This accounts for virtue as applied to life in general, but to explain species-specific virtues we must refer to the particular way a living being survives and reproduces as a result of its evolutionary lineage. Organisms do not simply survive and reproduce in general, but do so in specific ways based on developments that evolve over time through random genetic mutations and differential rates of reproductive success in an environment. These are known as biological adaptations.10 The function of an adaptation explains why the adaptation developed and was naturally selected for, rather than being selected of incidentally (e.g., the heart’s pumping of blood compared to the sound of its beating).11 This distinction prevents reference to functions from devolving in to ‘just-so’ stories that are trivially true. For a clear example, consider the emperor penguin, which as a result of its evolutionary lineage, has specific adaptations that enable it to survive and reproduce in the harsh climate of Antarctica, including thick feathers, a layer of sub- Moran (2009). Based on what it is, a fern ought to be able to survive and reproduce as such and by exhibiting certain virtues, which are here strictly non-moral excellences. If the fern cannot, we correctly infer that something has gone wrong and there must be some form of internal defect or external interference. This in turn bypasses concerns about Hume’s Law by identifying certain descriptive ‘is’ statements with prescriptive ‘ought’ statements, such that in the premises and not only in the conclusion do we find normativity. 10 Dobzhansky (1970), Sober (1984), (2006). 11 For any given adaptation A we can identify its proper function E by isolating the way in which it increases the likelihood of reproductive success R by bringing about E. Millikan (1984), (2001). There is debate around the exact nature of biological adaptations and their proper functions, whether an etiological or selection-history based method is required or whether a systems approach is sufficient (see McLaughlin 2001 and Ariew, Cummins, Perlan 2002). This technical issue is largely outside the scope of this essay, apart from noting that there are things that can be relevantly referred to as ‘proper’ functions, regardless of exactly why this is the case. Sober (1984). Incidental selection would mean the byproduct of selection, a spandrel, or the piggy-backing on a trait that directly confers fitness. 8 9 5 dermal fat, thermoregulation, and adaptations that permit deep diving, among others.12 These developments in the nature of the emperor penguin explain why it is able to survive and reproduce in a particular way through characteristic activities that differ from other species of organism and even other birds. A focus on adaptations allows for a more fine-grained form of virtue and vice owing to excellencies and deficiencies in the function of biological adaptations. This vindicates reference to the virtue of an eye, heart, or limb, which becomes intelligible once we understand that organs, limbs, and the systems of which they are a part effectively serve as instruments that facilitate the primary functions of survival and reproduction by producing certain behaviors in normal conditions. These behaviors then enable the organism to engage with the environment in such a way as to survive and reproduce and can be evaluated on functional grounds. This vindicates reference to species-specific virtue claims, such as the virtues of a horse, or human being, by rendering intelligible claims about excellencies in the characteristic activities brought about by species-specific adaptations. A good horse is able to run well not only insofar as a human being can use it instrumentally for riding, but because horses have adaptations that normally enable running of a certain kind, which allow them to escape predators, find food, and migrate during different times of the year. Indeed, it is only because horses have such adaptations that human beings can use them to satisfy the desire to travel, hunt, or farm. 2. Moral Virtue in the Twenty-First Century The combination of an Aristotelian account of virtue with recent empirical findings opens the door to reconceiving moral virtue and applying it to today’s ethical challenges. Although we evolved in such a way as to be able to reason socially, we also evolved with psychological predispositions toward holding implicit biases and forming stereotypes that predispose us toward features of the 12 Maho (1997). 6 physical and social environment.13 It is because of these predispositions that new habits of thought and action are required to flourish in the social settings we inhabit today, while new obstacles stand in the way of social cooperation and foment social conflict. By considering morality as a biological adaptation in human beings, we discover that moral virtues are excellencies in other-directed forms of feeling and action. Aristotle recognized that human beings are social animals,14 but this is true for other social organisms such as many mammals, birds, and eusocial insects such as ants, termites, and bees. The difference is that human beings are complex enough to exhibit their own individual needs, desires, and goals that can effectively come apart from those of other members of the social group and come together through certain prosocial thoughts, feelings, and actions. In the small social groups in which morality evolved, groups consisting of nomadic bands of genetically-related kin, interests coming apart would have the maladaptive effect of preventing mutual aid and collective action, with a detrimental effect on the aggregate fitness of the individual members. Only through certain psychological dispositions that induce an individual to not only reason in relation to others but identify with and act on behalf of group members, which normally consists of helping and not harming them in certain adaptive contexts, is the likelihood of this possibility decreased. These dispositions are moral virtues or adaptive developments of psychological predispositions we have toward cooperation.15 Haselton (2006). Aristotle recognizes the social nature of human being elsewhere, specifically in the Politics, but he develops and justifies moral virtue in the Nicomachean Ethics in relation to what is fine and noble for the virtuous agent as an individual in terms of flourishing. 15 Importantly, understanding moral virtue in this way does not mean that what is moral is whatever results in survival and reproduction directly. The individual who survives and reproduces the most, even at the cost of her close friends and family, would surely not therefore be the most morally virtuous. In contrast, some of the starkest examples of heroic action in human life result when an individual sacrifices her life for the sake of others, which clearly removes the chances of the likelihood of continued survival and reproduction. Morality only indirectly increases the likelihood of reproductive fitness in normal conditions, it does not guarantee it. That is, what is morally virtuous and vicious does not depend on whether survival and reproduction actually occurs, just as running well or adaptively does not guarantee reproductive success for the horse. Additionally, even though morality evolved by enabling early humans to cooperate with genetically-related kin, moral virtue and vice deal with what is cooperative and uncooperative as such; and thus do not apply only to those we are related to but anyone with whom we are able to socially interact. 13 14 7 Within this framework for understanding virtue, we can identify two specific excellencies that are important for adaptive human behavior in every possible social setting to some degree, temperance and justice. Temperance and justice are not the only two moral virtues, but many of the others can be understood along the lines of specific kinds of other-directed forms of self-control and beneficence, such as the moral aspects of courage, honesty, generosity, and friendliness, etc. The moral virtue of temperance (sophrosyne) aligns with other-directed forms of self-control. Social cooperation requires moral agents to not only be disposed to control their thoughts and actions in relation to others through social rationality, especially when they otherwise could take advantage, but to enjoy it as well. A social group wherein its members were unable or unwilling to exhibit other-directed forms of self-control would suffer form social conflict, and result in a decreased likelihood of the continued survival and reproduction of its members. In the small setting in which human morality evolved, it was not possible for group members to be completely intemperate and remain a functional group, at least not to a large degree or as a general rule. Indeed, this is likely why every known human society has specific rules, norms, and forms of habituation to promote temperance in its members.16 As an excellence in social rationality, this concerns how we rationally guide our feelings and actions in relation to others, rather simply having no feelings or desires the satisfaction of which would be uncooperative. Rather, it concerns a habituated ability to channel these desires in to adaptive outlets by satisfying them in a cooperative way in relation to others. In addition to temperance, a second important moral virtue is justice (dike), which in this context refers to interpersonal forms of fairness, an other-directed form of beneficence. Just as cooperation requires moral agents to be disposed to control their thoughts and actions through temperance, cooperation requires a disposition to benefit others in certain situations, such as sharing 16 Krebs (2011). 8 and aiding another in danger. A social group wherein its members were wholly unable or willing to help each other on the basis of perceived fairness, would suffer from social conflict and the associated decrease in aggregate fitness, especially when it comes to the dangers posed by scarcity, accident, and the dangers of life. As with temperance, every known human society has rules, norms, and ways of habituating justice in its members from a young age, where its principles are often taught in the form of myths, parables, and abstract ideals related to fairness.17 Justice as an excellency in social rationality in many ways forms the glue that holds human societies together by reasoning with the interests of others in mind, showing that more is needed than mere coordination, such as mutual trust, fellow-feeling, and love. While these two moral virtues are required in every known and possible human society to a minimal degree, changes in the social settings in which human beings live can present evolutionarily novel challenges to being virtuous. As human beings evolved by being predisposed toward cooperation with ingroup members, they also evolved by being predisposed toward suspicion and even conflict with outgroup members.18 These predispositions do not necessitate conflict today, but they do predispose us toward making distinctions between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ and incline us to apply different moral standards owing to perceived group membership based on certain superficial cues. Such distinctions at one point were likely adaptive, but now present the distinct possibility for maladaptive forms of thought and action insofar as differences in belief and appearance do not align with the boundaries of the community or behavioral prediction, and never tracked morally-relevant distinctions based solely on human differences at all.19 Brown (1991). Fishbein (1996), Schaller and Conway (1999), Fiske (2000), Hirschfeld (2001), Hammond and Axelrod (2006), De Dreu, et al. (2011), Fu, et al. (2012). Maintaining trust often required being wary of threats to social integrity in the form of external incursions, where other human groups often posed lethal dangers similar to non-human predators (Bowles 2009). There was also likely a fair amount of non-hostile interaction occurring as well. 19 Efferson, et al. (2008). 17 18 9 The diversity of social settings today presents a number of challenges to being virtuous. The environment in which human morality evolved was much more homogenous than the heterogeneity we see today. The similarity of ingroup members resulted in psychological predispositions to prefer those who happen to think or think like us and a suspicion of those who do not, even if in actuality we inhabit the same social collective. This results in the tendency to form implicit biases and hold negative stereotypes about those considered to be in an outgroup, which can operate on the level of those outside one’s family, clique, company, institution, community, nationality, ethnicity, or religion, to name just a few. This is the evolutionary basis of ethnocentrism, xenophobia as a fear of the foreign, and the general tendency to Other by not extending social rationality to different people.20 In the setting in which morality evolved, temperance and justice were relatively easier when the agent readily identified with each member of the social group and when satisfying one’s desires at the cost of another or failing to lend aid would be to hurt someone who was part one’s extended family, and indirectly, oneself. But today there is the potential for a gap to open up wherein preconceived notions lead us to believe in morally-relevant distinctions that act as excuses to not exhibit self-control or justice based on the belief that we form different moral communities and do not owe each other equal moral consideration. In addition to diversity, the complexity that results from the sheer size of today’s social settings presents a number of challenges to being virtuous. The vast majority of people now live in social environments which consist of tens of thousands, if not millions, of people, wherein interaction occurs between those outside of one’s close friends and family. This applies not only to occupational or educational settings, but day-to-day interactions like going to the store or walking down the street. As most of us must now interact with those we are not directly related to, and thus not interconnected with in the form of a special relationship, it is now easier to fail to be temperate 20 Hammond and Axelrod (2006). 10 and just. An agent can now more easily justify satisfying her desires at the detriment of others because it is not as immediately clear how doing so will cause her or her family members to suffer, even indirectly. The size of our social settings makes it easier to fail to be just, as it is less clear what we owe to those we are not directly related to, and given that it is simply not possible to lend aid to everyone to the same extent and at the same time. It is now possible to overlook the needs of others in such a way that we simply could not do if the suffering person was our own mother or father. Finally, the impersonality of our social settings presents a number of challenges to being morally virtuous today. Whereas in the small societies in which morality evolved human interaction took place on a persistent face-to-face basis,21 today we are increasingly using technologies that allow us to live, work, and communicate without this interaction and at times even anonymously. Perhaps the most relevant example today is the internet, which allows for near instant communication without seeing or even hearing those who are affected. In terms of temperance, this makes it harder to control one’s desires in relation to others, especially when there is no clear emotional feedback that would result from seeing the facial expressions that result from hurtful comments. Now individuals can say and do things to others impersonally that they likely would not do in person, including some of the cruelest forms of language, targeting, and harassment. Impersonal technology can also diminish the urgency of the needs of others while concealing opportunities to lend aid, as it is more difficult to grasp the importance of being fair to faceless individuals or masses of people represented by dots on a pixilated screen. Given such changes and our evolved nature, new habits of thought and action are required to be virtuous in the social settings of the twenty-first century. We require forms of temperance and justice updated with the facts of evolution to counteract these psychological predispositions and channel them in cooperative ways using social rationality. There will be limits to what we are capable 21 Caporael (1997). 11 of psychologically, in that it will simply not be possible to treat every individual as if she is a close friend or family member, and to do so would likely require us to not be sufficiently temperate and just to those closest to us. 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