The Moral Lives of Animals (Humans Included)

Here's a provocative theory that I hope turns out to be true:

"In the summer of 2000 scientists saw a young elephant collapse and die on a trail in the African forest. In the following hours, elephants passing by attempted to help and revive her by lifting her dead body off the ground.

In [a new book,] The Moral Lives of Animals, Tufts University lecturer Dale Peterson argues that this kind of behavior provides evidence that humans are not the only animals that developed a sense of morality -- other mammals, among them elephants, dolphins and chimpanzees, also have strong impulses for cooperation, kindness and fairness. Peterson...makes the case that the morality of animals, such as humans, requires obeying certain social rules and evolved as a means to mediate conflicts that inevitably arise within communities. Animals are capable of exhibiting moral behaviors because these behaviors do not require advanced intellectual capabilities -- they only result from strong emotional responses.

Some of Peterson's stories illustrate animal emotions vividly, such as accounts of elephants committing suicide. Peterson writes that loggers in Myanmar (Burma) capture and train elephants to help with timber extraction. The taming procedure can be so distressing to the animals that some cut off their own air supply by stepping on their trunks."

The above comes from Scientific American Mind magazine. I am now off to buy the book! For awhile now, I'm been intrigued by the idea of moral decisions being guided by emotional impulses as well as reason. Recent neuroscience teaches us that people with impairments in the areas of the brain that produce emotions are incapable of making the simplest decisions, like what to eat for lunch, and that moral decision-making is partly governed by these same areas.

This suggests that we should

(1) get in the habit of listening to our gut reactions more often, and

(2) tap into the emotional responses that we had as children to the suffering of other beings. Over time we learn to muzzle those responses, partly out of self-protection, and partly because our culture -- dating back to Plato, with his potent image of reason as a charioteer whipping the unruly horses of emotions into shape -- trains us to rely on reason rather than emotion.

But if emotional responses can compel an elephant to try to revive a dying youngster, imagine what they can do for us humans.

Your thoughts? As far as you can tell, do you tend to be guided more by reason or emotion?

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