definition

Two Distinct Moralities: Sympathy and Fairness

There are two distinct moralities: the morality of sympathy/helping—rooted in mammalian oxytocin-driven care for offspring and generalized to non-kin, widespread across mammals—and the morality of fairness and obligation, a more cognitive, rational process where equal effort generates a felt obligation to share equally; the sense of obligation is not the same as being nice and arises specifically from collaborative foraging.

definitionpending

Speaker

Michael Tomasello

Evidence Quote

“I distinguish... the morality of sharing and helping and sympathy, and the morality of fairness, which is a more cognitive rational kind of process.”

Source

225 | Michael Tomasello on The Social Origins of Cognition and Agency— Sean Carroll's Mindscape
Created: 6/13/2026, 12:05:28 AM

My Notes

Loading notes...