Morality

Listened to a fantastic podcast this week on one of my favorite radio shows, WNYC's "Radio Lab." (http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/season2_2006.html)

I can recommend all the programs--great practical science--but I heartily recommend the Season 2 program on "morality." The episode asks the question: where does morality come from?

They reference this incident from the mid-90s at a Chicago zoo. There is quite a bit of evidence that animals evidence moral behavior--specifically, animals show evidence of empathy, which is the root of morality. The ability to feel the emotions of another, to put one's self in another's shoes... not unique to humans. And certainly not perfected by us, either.