Dr. Paul Zak's Argumentative Analysis

Are humans innately moral? Dr. Paul Zak believes he has identified the chemical responsible for moral behavior. With the aid of psychological and biological experiments, Zak believes the oxytocin, a neurotransmitter, allows us to exhibit moral behaviors such as empathy and trustworthiness. Paul Zak, inspired by his own mother’s morality, wondered whether the morality of his sweet mother was a shared characteristic amongst other humans. In order to examine such question, Zak looked for shared characteristics within the brain. Thus, he began searching for a chemical answer for our mortality because the brain’s neurotransmitters are relatively the same in all humans. Ten years later Zak claimed he had discovered the “moral molecule” which he …show more content…
At the time Zak’s discovery, oxytocin was not a new molecule, but rather an old molecule specific to mammals. In human females oxytocin facilitates birth and breast-feeding and is released in both sexes during sex. The role of oxytocin is quite different in humans compared to other mammals. For example, oxytocin stimulates female rodents to foster their young. Hence, oxytocin affects a variety of processes within mammals. Oxytocin’s prevalence forced Dr. Zak to consider the correlation between oxytocin and moral behavior. Dr. Zak found it easy to experimentally manipulate oxytocin because its molecular properties are well known. However, Dr. Zak struggled to design an experiment with the ability to measure morality. Instead of tackling morality as a whole Dr. Zak narrowed his experiment by specifically targeting trustworthiness. He chose trustworthiness because of a prior study supporting a correlation between trustworthiness and prosperity. The experiment was simple and followed, …show more content…
Zak points out two flaws within his study. First, the chemical oxytocin does not work in isolation within the human body. Dr. Zak ran subsequent tests with 9 other neurotransmitters, finding no interaction between oxytocin and the associated chemicals. Secondly, Dr. Zak’s previous study supported a correlation between morality and oxytocin, not causation. Thus, the logical next step was to design an experiment that manipulated oxytocin levels in the brain. Dr. Zak tested the controlled oxytocin levels in the brain via a nasal inhaler. The previous experimental test was repeated only this time the participant’s oxytocin levels were increased. The study found that participants on oxytocin showed more trust and sent double their money to a stranger. Later studies showed that oxytocin not only effects trust but also generosity, charity, massage, dancing, and praying. After completion of many studies, Dr. Zak concluded that empathy was at the root of human morality. Nevertheless, in some cases, specifically 5% of the population, oxytocin release is inhibited causing immoral behavior. There are three reasons for the inhibition of oxytocin within the body. First, improper nurturing leads to the inhibition of oxytocin. Secondly, a high stress environment leads to a decreased secretion of oxytocin. Lastly, increased testosterone levels, particularly in males, cause a decrease in oxytocin release. Hence, Dr. Zak was able to manipulate oxytocin within the body, showing