The Role of Conscious Reasoning and Intuition in Moral Judgment: Testing Three Principles of Harm

• Published in: Psychological science Vol. 17; no. 12; pp. 1082 - 1089
• Main Authors: Cushman, Fiery, Young, Liane, Hauser, Marc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Blackwell Publishing 01.12.2006; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Box cars; Canada; Cognition - physiology; Consciousness - physiology; Denial (Psychology); Female; Goals; Humans; Intention; Intuition; Intuition - physiology; Judgment; Judgment - physiology; Male; Mathematical intuitionism; Moral judgment; Moral principles; Moral psychology; Morality; Morals; Observer Variation; Physical contact; Problem Solving - physiology; Psychological Theory; Psychology, Social - methods; Reasoning; Social Behavior; Social Values; Uncertainty; United Kingdom; United States

Is moral judgment accomplished by intuition or conscious reasoning? An answer demands a detailed account of the moral principles in question. We investigated three principles that guide moral judgments: (a) Harm caused by action is worse than harm caused by omission, (b) harm intended as the means t...