This is the text of my TEDx talk [Video][Slides]
Introduction
I try to be a good person. And I'm sure you do too. But figuring out how to be good is not easy. What is the difference between good and bad, right and wrong, moral and immoral? Philosophers have struggled in vain with these questions for millennia. And for many people the nature of morality is so baffling that they assume it must have a supernatural origin. But the good news is that we now have a thriving science of morality – incorporating insights from genetics, animal behaviour, psychology and anthropology. And this science tells us that there is nothing mysterious or magical about morality. Morality is merely a collection of cooperative rules – rules that help us work together, get along, and promote the common good.
Morality is all about cooperation
The basic idea is that humans and their ancestors are social animals. We have lived in social groups for 50 million years. During this time, we faced (and continue to face) a range of different problems of – or opportunities for – cooperation, for mutually-beneficial social interaction. And we have evolved and invented a range of solutions to those problems – ways of unlocking the enormous benefits that cooperation provides. These solutions come in many different shapes and sizes. Some are social instincts, the legacy of evolution. Some are more recent cultural innovations – norms, customs and laws. Together, these biological and cultural mechanisms motivate us to cooperate; and they provide the criteria by which we evaluate the behavior of others. And it is precisely this collection of cooperative traits – these instincts, intuitions, and institutions – that philosophers and others have called morality. This is what morality is made of.
Many types of morality
So morality is a collection of cooperative rules – but what are the rules? Well, science has the answers here too. Game theory is the mathematical analysis of social interaction. Game theory distinguishes between competitive ‘zerosum’ interactions – where one person’s gain is another’s loss – and cooperative ‘nonzerosum' interactions – win-win situations in which both players benefit.
What’s more, game theory distinguishes between different types of nonzero cooperative interaction. And each of these different types of cooperation explains a different type of morality.
Kin selection explains why we love and care for our families
Mutualism explains why we form groups – there is strength and safety in numbers –and hence why we value unity, solidarity, and loyalty.
Social exchange explains why we feel obliged to return favours, and punish those who don't.
And Conflict Resolution explains why, instead of coming to blows, we:
compete for status through acts of bravery and generosity;
humbly defer to the winners of those contests;
divide disputed resources fairly rather than fighting to the death over them; and
respect prior ownership – other people’s property – and refrain from theft.
These seven types of cooperation explain seven types of morality: love, loyalty, reciprocity, bravery, respect, fairness and property rights.
In each case, we can explain how the behaviour emerged. We have ample evidence that people do in fact cooperate in these ways. And we can find examples of philosophers and others celebrating each of these cooperative traits as an important part of what it means to be moral.
Seven moral rules found all around the world
Now at this point you might be thinking: “This all sounds great, but is this just a Western view of morality? Do other people in other places have radically different understandings of what it means to be good?”
Well, that’s a very good question – so good that I dedicated several years to answering it.
My colleagues and I at the University of Oxford went to the archives. We analysed over 600 ethnographic accounts of ethics from these 60 societies, to find out whether people in these different cultures thought these seven cooperative behaviours – love your family, help your group, return favors, be brave, defer to your superiors, be fair, and respect others’ property – were morally good, or not.
What did we find?
Well, first, we found about 1,000 examples of these seven cooperative behaviours, and we found that they were considered morally good in 99.9% of cases. (In a way, even the single exception – a case where open theft was considered good, because it displayed the bravery of the thief – proves the rule.)
Second, we found examples of most of these morals in most societies. Crucially, there were no counter-examples – no societies in which, overall, any of these behaviours were considered morally bad.
And third, we observed these morals with equal frequency across continents – there were evenly distributed around the world. They were not the exclusive preserve of ‘the West’ or the East, or the North or the South…
So these seven moral rules are not merely ‘Western’ inventions – instead they form part of a common core of universal moral principles. Morality is always and everywhere a cooperative phenomenon. And everyone everywhere agrees that cooperating – in all these ways – is the right thing to do.
The cooperative imperative
If this scientific account of morality is correct, then what implications does it have for how we ought to behave? Many scientists will say ‘none at all’, because you can’t go from facts to values. But these are not just any old facts – these are facts about the nature and content of our moral values. Surely these facts have something to say about how to be good – how could they not? So what are the implications?
Well, if morality is a collection of cooperative rules, then acting morally involves acting in accordance with those rules. Simply put: if you want to be moral, then you ought to cooperate.
Generally, what this means is that you should view moral problems as cooperative problems – because that is what they are. Don’t ask “what’s the right thing to do?”, ask “what’s the cooperative thing to do?”, and the route to the answer will be clearer.
Specifically, when making a moral decision, you should first ask: what’s the problem? What kind of cooperative situation am I facing? What’s the problem? What’s the opportunity? Is this a case of kin altruism, mutualism, reciprocity or conflict resolution? (Or some combination?)
Second, you should ask, what would constitute a solution to this problem? What’s the cooperative move to make here? Does this situation call for an act of love or loyalty or fairness or bravery or what? Relevant questions here include: What’s best for me, my family, my community? What have I promised, what am I owed? Will I be proud or ashamed of acting in this way? Can this resource be shared? And, who was here first? And if you have to choose between two or cooperative opportunities – if you have to choose between helping your family or helping your group – you should choose the more cooperative option, the one that generates the most benefits, the greater good.
And finally, having discussed, deliberated and decided what to do, you should do it – and see what happens. No-one is perfect, and you won’t always make the right choice. But you can learn from your mistakes, and resolve to do better next time. That is what moral progress looks like.
So… Call your Mom. Commit to a cause greater than yourself. Write to thank your old teacher. Stand up to a bully. Ask an elder’s advice. Split the cheque. And return that borrowed book.
Do these things, and you will be a better person. And the world will be a better place.