THE EARLY ONTOGENY OF HUMAN COOPERATION AND MORALITY

In this chapter, we consider children’s moral development from an evolutionary perspective. We propose that human morality arose evolutionarily as a set of skills and motives for cooperating with others. Following recent accounts by Tomasello and colleagues of a two-step sequence in the evolution of human cooperation and morality, we propose and review empirical evidence in support of a two-step sequence in the ontogeny of human cooperation and morality: first, a second-personal morality that emerges in infancy and toddlerhood, in which children are sympathetic or fair to particular others, and second, a norm-based morality that emerges during the preschool years, in which children follow and enforce group-wide social norms. These prosocial and moral tendencies compete throughout ontogeny with children’s selfish tendencies and are modified significantly by socialization and culture.

Duke Scholars

Author Michael Tomasello Psychology & Neuroscience