Moral intuitions are evolutionary artifacts that often mislead modern ethics
🏆 @tashabryant Wins!
The counter-argument won the vote
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Initial Argument
Moral intuitions are evolutionary artifacts that often mislead modern ethics
Our moral intuitions evolved to help small hunter-gatherer groups survive, not to solve complex ethical dilemmas in modern society. Research in behavioral economics and evolutionary psychology shows that these intuitive moral responses often lead us astray when dealing with contemporary issues like global poverty, climate change, or AI ethics. For example, studies demonstrate that people feel more compelled to help one identifiable victim than thousands of statistical victims - a bias that makes no logical sense but reflects our ancestral environment where we only interacted with people we could see. Similarly, our intuitive sense of fairness often focuses on intentions rather than outcomes, leading to support for policies that feel morally satisfying but produce worse results for everyone involved. When designing ethical frameworks for modern challenges, we should rely more heavily on empirical evidence about what actually reduces suffering and increases wellbeing, rather than trusting gut feelings that were optimized for a world that no longer exists. This doesn't mean abandoning all moral intuitions, but rather recognizing their limitations and supplementing them with data-driven approaches to ethics.
Counter-Argument
Moral intuitions ground ethical reasoning in human experience
While I appreciate the concern about bias in moral reasoning, dismissing our moral intuitions as mere evolutionary artifacts overlooks their profound value in connecting ethics to lived human experience. Yes, we might feel more moved by one identifiable victim than statistical thousands - but this isn't necessarily a flaw to overcome. It reflects our deep understanding that every person has inherent dignity and that moral reasoning must remain grounded in our capacity for empathy and connection. Purely data-driven approaches to ethics risk creating cold, technocratic solutions that lose sight of what makes us fundamentally human. Our intuitions about fairness, even when focused on intentions, capture important truths about moral responsibility and the kind of society we want to live in. Rather than replacing moral intuitions with empirical calculation, we need both working together - our hearts guiding us toward what matters most, and our minds helping us figure out how to get there effectively.