The Moral Sense

by James Q. Wilson

Book Overview

Are human beings naturally endowed with a conscience? Or is morality artificially acquired through social pressure and instruction? Most people assume that modern science proves the latter. Further, most of our current social policies are based upon this "scientific" view of the sources of morality. In this book, however, James Q. Wilson seeks to reconcile traditional ideas with a range of important empirical research into the sources of human behavior...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684833328
• ISBN13: 9780684833323
• Release Date: November 1997
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Convincing us that we are not simply self- interested beings living in a world in which all is moral

Two major pieces of conventional - wisdom are undermined in the present work. The first is that we are all merely selfish creatures who act only out of considerations of our own self- interest. The second is that there is no objective morality and that no action can be taken to have a real moral value- but rather that all is simply ' relative'. James Q. Wilson presents in this work a general theory which explains and justifies our 'moral sense'. He does this in part through his reading of eighteenth - century Enlightenment moralists, Adam Smith, Frances Hutcheson, David Hume but also through his reading of Darwinian evolution. Primarily however he examines in ordinary clear language cases and examples from our everyday life and experience , and through them helps establish that the 'moral sense' is present in most of us. He opens his work with a chapter on the Moral Sense, those dispositions which enable us to intuit what is right and wrong. He then considers four sentiments central to the Moral Sense- Sympathy, Fairness, Self- Control and Duty. In writing for instance of Sympathy he shows how this ability to feel for and understand others is a much approved and commendable quality. And how there are clear cases of Sympathy which cannot simply be classified as manipulations for self- interest. He considers too how Sympathy may inform heroic action, as in the most dramatic case of a soldier giving his life for his fellows. Wilson discourses in his third section the Sources of the Moral Sense. His chapters here are 'Social Animals' ' Families' 'Gender' 'The Universal Aspiration'. He concentrates on how the close- ties within the family are one of the strong sources of Morality , and how those ties are extended to reach out to wider and wider parts of humanity. His final chapter is on 'The Moral Sense and Human Character'. Wilson throughout supplies a very large number of examples and cases which he reads in a moderate, intelligent interpretative tone. There is a quiet convincingness in the whole feel of the work. It is as if 'common sense' were restoring to us a sense of ourselves our possible goodness and dignity which modern Sociology, Psychology and Anthropology may have deprived of us. A key book for understanding ourselves and how we might be better human beings in a better world.

Perspective from a 15-year-old

I'm junior in high school and have been exploring options of carrer choice since I'll be going to college in two years. I'm very interested in the human mind and psychology and socialogy, so I thought I would like this book. It's very interesting and thought-provoking. I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in human interaction.

Makes you think

I normally wouldn't give a book that is this slow such a high rating. Some of the chapters are longer than they need to be. Despite that, Wilson's argument is so interesting that it is worth struggling through some rather difficult writing to try to understand it. Wilson is making a very conservative argument that argues that everyone is born with an innate moral sense, but that the family is key to socializing children to express that basic human nature. He uses extensive reference materials to back up his argument. In the end, I wasn't convinced that his thesis was correct, but he made me consider possibilities and arguments that I had not contemplated in the past. Some of his arguments about women were clearly sexist, and he didn't back it up in a way that made it seem like anything more than anti-feminist rhetoric. Overall, however, some of what he said did make sense. The book made me think, which a decent philosophical essay ought to do. If you are willing to read a book you might not agree with, and you are interested in philosophy/morality, this book is worth the effort.

A rarity: a book on morality worth reading

Generally speaking, I have little use for books on morality. Anyone who needs to be given reasons in a book not to rape, rob or steal is someone not to be trusted. Books on morality, at best, are merely rationalizations of what all decent people believe anyway, and I fail to understand what is the point of that. But James Q. Wilson's "The Moral Sense" is a different kind of book on morality. Instead of trying to prove that murder is wrong or genocide evil, Wilson attempts to explain the origin of widespread beliefs concerning moral issues. His thesis is quite simple: morality, he argues, is based on human nature. In pursuing this goal, he makes no effort to state or justify moral rules, but seeks only to clarify what ordinary people mean when they speak about moral feelings and to explain the source of those feelings. Wilson regards this book as a continuation of the work begun by 18th century British philosophers, most notably David Hume and Adam Smith. He adds to this tradition a wealth of evidence from the biological and social sciences. The empirical examples Wilson has collected to illustrate his arguments are fascinating. "The Moral Sense" is not only the best book on morality written in the last fifty years, it also one of the best primers on the latest scientific evidence relating to human nature. For this alone, the book deserves high marks. It refutes the widely held notion that human nature is culturally malleable and that, with the right education and upbringing, the nature of man can be radically changed. Anyone who aspires to be educated and to understand what science has discovered about human beings needs to read this book. They will learn more about man and society from this book then all the text books they ever read in university courses in the social sciences.

Facinating insights to human's sense of morality and society

Wilson provides a facinating overview of our inate moral standards throughout history with the focus being on the differences and similiarities of current cultures. Equally facinating is his analysis of the differences between men and women. He pulls from famous thinkers, medicine, socialogical and psychological studies creating a very comprehensive yet readable essay. This book will leave you inspired and thoughtful for many years.