Hi, friend (yeah, busy).
Can't stick around for more than a few minutes, but perhaps it would be helpful to first provide an account of what we mean by 'morality'? Is it synonymous with such things as ethics and self-interest? BTW, just took a quick look at the Haidt (does he define the term?).
Kahn, I am only a little into the book. I'd have to check back. Why the
?
I think morality is equated to well-being (this is how Sam Harrison defines it). In other words, morality is connected to the psychological, physical, emotional, and spiritual fulfillment of being healthy, happy and comfortable (I know well-being can be defined in many different ways).
I guess the best example I can give is that it is morally wrong to engage in child sexual abuse, since we know these actions hinder people from being healthy, happy, and comfortable. Thus, it is moral to protect and nurture children.
I don't know if this is the type of example you're looking for. Youre much more articulate when it comes to this stuff!
Kahn, I found this. This quote appears to define the processes of moral thinking/feeling, but not what morality actually is (what is considered moral).
Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist who defines moral as: the sudden appearance in consciousness of a moral judgment,including an affective valence (good–bad, like–dislike), without any awareness of having gone through steps of searching, weighing evidence,or inferring a moral conclusion. Moral intuition is therefore the psychological process that the Scottish philosophers talked about, aprocess akin to aesthetic judgment. One sees or hears about an event and one instantly feels approval or disapproval.[9] Haidt argues that many people do not utilize conscious reasoning to make our judgments.