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Childish Morality?

Children between the ages of five and ten value strangers, and life itself, very differently than adults do. What does this tell us about the roles culture, biology, and our capacity to reason play in the formation of our moral judgments?

PRINCETON – Consider the following statements describing our moral judgments:

If a child is hungry, or hurt, the child’s parents or friends have a greater obligation to help than a stranger does.

If we have to choose between saving the life of a human or that of a dog – or even many dogs – we ought to save the human.

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