{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-post-query-tsx","path":"/blog-post/read-joshua-greenes-moral-tribes/","result":{"pageContext":{"post":{"slug":"/blog-post/read-joshua-greenes-moral-tribes/","title":"Read Joshua Greene's Moral Tribes","date":"Nov 28, 2013","timeToRead":1,"description":"","body":"function _extends() { _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; }; return _extends.apply(this, arguments); }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutProperties(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded); var key, i; if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols) { var sourceSymbolKeys = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(source); for (i = 0; i < sourceSymbolKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceSymbolKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; if (!Object.prototype.propertyIsEnumerable.call(source, key)) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } } return target; }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = {}; var sourceKeys = Object.keys(source); var key, i; for (i = 0; i < sourceKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } return target; }\n\n/* @jsxRuntime classic */\n\n/* @jsx mdx */\nvar _frontmatter = {\n  \"title\": \"Read Joshua Greene's Moral Tribes\",\n  \"date\": \"2013-11-28\",\n  \"template\": \"post\",\n  \"slug\": \"read-joshua-greenes-moral-tribes\",\n  \"postedLink\": \"https://riceinstitute.org/blog/read-joshua-greenes-moral-tribes/\",\n  \"old-tags\": [\"ethics\", \"externalities\", \"philosophy\", \"social-inequality-3\"],\n  \"description\": \"\",\n  \"tags\": \"Blog Post\",\n  \"banner\": \"\"\n};\nvar layoutProps = {\n  _frontmatter: _frontmatter\n};\nvar MDXLayout = \"wrapper\";\nreturn function MDXContent(_ref) {\n  var components = _ref.components,\n      props = _objectWithoutProperties(_ref, [\"components\"]);\n\n  return mdx(MDXLayout, _extends({}, layoutProps, props, {\n    components: components,\n    mdxType: \"MDXLayout\"\n  }), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I haven\\u2019t been able to write much because we have been training surveyors and traveling. But in the evenings at our training center along the Sitapur-Lucknow highway, I\\u2019ve just finished reading \", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~jgreene/\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Joshua Greene\"), \"\\u2019s new book \", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594202605/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=1G5Z21KHZH34TK2PRMP8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Moral Tribes\"), \". He outlines the evidence for the dual process theory of moral psychology that he has been documenting over the last decade: our automatic, emotional moral intuitions serve us well in interactions within our in-group (especially of the sort that our ancestors would have had) but serve us poorly in other situations, and especially among out-groups.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"This is an important book, and part of an important project. Many people \\u2013 maybe including you \\u2013 should read it, think about it, and talk about it. Now, to preserve my credibility, I am rhetorically obligated to note that the book is probably not perfect:\"), mdx(\"ul\", null, mdx(\"li\", {\n    parentName: \"ul\"\n  }, \"perhaps too many of the examples deal with U.S. politics;\"), mdx(\"li\", {\n    parentName: \"ul\"\n  }, \"in a side plot, it strikes me that \\u2013 like other philosophers whom I respect \\u2013 Greene is too optimistic about the marginal product of donations to the sort of non-profits and international organizations with which I regularly interact (helping people at a distance and learning what will work in any specific case can both be very hard, although there may be easier ways to help people up close);\"), mdx(\"li\", {\n    parentName: \"ul\"\n  }, \"the proposed solution to the problem of \\u201Chappiness pumps\\u201D (that richer people might be required to give quite a lot to poorer people is too much to ask of our species) feels, at a first reading, more like a restatement of the problem\", \"*\", \" (Greene offers a similar attempt at resolving the so-called repugnant conclusion);\"), mdx(\"li\", {\n    parentName: \"ul\"\n  }, \"and although Greene takes the difficulty of promoting utilitarianism seriously, perhaps he still underestimates it (perhaps strategically).\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"But a key lesson of the book is not to let the search for perfect ethics be an enemy of good behavior. I am hoping to write a more complete reaction to this book soon (presumably while watching surveyors in Bihar), focusing on its application to human development in India, where complex social fragmentation and hierarchy put many of the people one encounters in an out-group. But don\\u2019t wait for me \\u2013 \", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594202605/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=1G5Z21KHZH34TK2PRMP8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"read it now\"), \"!\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"*\", \" I am beginning to suspect there may be an answer in \", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Parfit\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Derek Parfit\"), \"\\u2019s discussion of our Kahneman-Tversky-like difficulty dealing well with small probabilities in ethics in \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"Reasons and Persons\"), \".\"));\n}\n;\nMDXContent.isMDXComponent = true;","tags":[{"name":"Blog Post","slug":"blog-post"}],"banner":null}}},"staticQueryHashes":["318001574","3787687951","3787687951"]}