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RESEARCH PAPERS

No. 61

Two-way communication between social cognition and moral cognition

DOI
https://doi.org/10.12795/themata.2020.i61.02
Submitted
August 5, 2019
Published
2020-06-14

Abstract

In this article, I present three conceptions of the evolution of intelligence understood as social cognition and its precursors in other non-human primates. Each of these models will be evaluated on the basis of two cross-cutting issues, namely: a) What factors affect the development of social cognition? and b) What mechanisms regulate or control social cognition? Likewise I will describe the evolutionary connection between social cognition and moral cognition by defending a model I call "morality as social intelligence" which suggests that in order to have a full and mature "moral sense" it is necessary to know what the other thinks (social cognition) in order to be able to do as much good as possible and not cause harm, and vice versa, to have a full and mature “social competence” it is necessary to take into account normative information (morality) in order to be able to attribute mental states.

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