The Next 50 years: A theory of moral development

Welcome back.

“What we need is theory of moral development,” writes Paul Bloom, professor of psychology at Yale University. He predicts that within the next fifty years, however, psychology will still NOT be able to explain moral development.

That’s right. Not.

Naturalist Charles Darwin suggested that moral development was a function of evolved intelligence. Psychologist William James suggested that moral development was the result of the adoption of social instincts. Modern day psychology has no clue, according to Bloom.

“It may be,” Bloom adds, “that the nature of moral thought or consciousness is beyond our understanding.”

here’s a list of stuff that we all think psychologists know. Not.

• the benefits of playing Mozart to a baby
• spanking is hamrful
• not spanking is harmful
• the crucial importance of mother-child bonding in the first hours
• the dangers of day care

Psychology can’t say one way or another. “In fact, the practical benefits of psychology have always been modest,” Bloom writes. “…psychological claims about how to manage society, treat criminals, and educate and raise our children have been, at their best, common sense. At their worst, they are faddish and dangerous…”

What do you think?

see you in the mystic,

Alex
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