So there’s this ongoing debate about the nature of human morality. How much does our sense of morality stem from the brain’s System 1 – intuitive, fast, hot - grounded in emotion – and how much is our sense of morality rooted in System 2: deliberative, slowish, cool – grounded in mental effort.
Here’s a question: how do we acquire System 1 moral reactions? Sure, the basics are deeply ingrained. Ask any child development psychologist. But System 2 processes also play an important role.
As our moral sense develops, we may find ourselves reflecting less and reacting more. In the beginning we struggle to sort it out. Eventually we become more settled in our judgments. What began as moral reasoning is increasingly replaced by moral intuitions. Some of us may become opinionated and easily outraged: System 1 calling the shots.
But that's not the end of the story. Under certain conditions, moral intuitions may give way to moral reasoning.- even about subjects that typically evoke knee-jerk reactions from us.
Next in series: what conditions might these be?