Humans and animals have always been viewed as separate, but in truth we are one and the same. In The Bonobo and the Atheist Frans de Waal makes an argument about how are not different and that one trait many argue makes us different, our morals, is not just indicative of us. De Waal shows many examples of morals in animals, but it is apparent that there morals are still different then ours. Human and other animals share similar moral traits but they differ in their development, and scope of altruism. To begin let us look at how humans develop morals on an individual level, Lawrence Kohlberg looked deeply into this idea. He saw human morals develop in a series of stages, “Kohlberg and his associates defined six stages of moral development
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“It is not just that these apes knew their place; they knew what to expect in case of breach of rule. A social hierarchy is a giant system of inhibitions, which is no doubt what paved the way for human morality, which is also a system.” (De waal, p150) this quote shows the devotion of apes to maintain authority within their social systems similar to Kohlberg 's stage 4 of moral development. Humans and some animals have similar moral development along the lines of Kohlberg 's theory, although humans differ in their moral development around stage 5, due to the fact that humans strive towards moral complexity because of our complex social systems. Nowhere, in any of our readings does a recognition “that some laws are better than others” (How Moral Are You?, p199) occur in a non-human species. It seems that beyond stage 4 is where morality begins to drop off, unless you 're …show more content…
The How Moral are you? Packet summarized the development of morals in humans through Kohlberg 's six stages, through which we were able to draw comparisons such as developmental stages that we humans share with other animals as well as where we differ from them. The readings also introduced similarities and differences of altruism between apes and humans. Even though apes and humans use altruism in an individual level humans use altruism as a tool to benefit themselves and their society. Overall the readings have shown us the similarities and differences between human and ape altruism and moral
“It is not just that these apes knew their place; they knew what to expect in case of breach of rule. A social hierarchy is a giant system of inhibitions, which is no doubt what paved the way for human morality, which is also a system.” (De waal, p150) this quote shows the devotion of apes to maintain authority within their social systems similar to Kohlberg 's stage 4 of moral development. Humans and some animals have similar moral development along the lines of Kohlberg 's theory, although humans differ in their moral development around stage 5, due to the fact that humans strive towards moral complexity because of our complex social systems. Nowhere, in any of our readings does a recognition “that some laws are better than others” (How Moral Are You?, p199) occur in a non-human species. It seems that beyond stage 4 is where morality begins to drop off, unless you 're …show more content…
The How Moral are you? Packet summarized the development of morals in humans through Kohlberg 's six stages, through which we were able to draw comparisons such as developmental stages that we humans share with other animals as well as where we differ from them. The readings also introduced similarities and differences of altruism between apes and humans. Even though apes and humans use altruism in an individual level humans use altruism as a tool to benefit themselves and their society. Overall the readings have shown us the similarities and differences between human and ape altruism and moral