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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

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Published on: March 19, 2014

Why be moral: Humanist and behavioral perspectives.

B Newman, D R Reinecke, A L Kurtz

The Behavior Analyst

|April 6, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Philosophers debate why individuals should be moral, especially without fear of punishment. This study analyzes naturalistic approaches, finding humanists and behavior analysts are no worse off than religious counterparts in justifying morality.

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Area of Science:

Philosophy of Ethics
Moral Psychology
Behavioral Science

Background:

The fundamental question of why individuals should behave morally, particularly when undetected, has long challenged philosophers.
Traditional arguments often rely on supernatural concepts of divine oversight to ensure accountability.
Naturalistic philosophical systems, excluding deities, face the challenge of grounding moral behavior without external enforcement.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore and analyze naturalistic attempts to answer the question of individual moral obligation.
To compare the strategies employed by naturalistic humanists and behavior analysts in justifying morality.
To assess whether naturalistic frameworks can adequately address the problem of individual moral motivation.

Main Methods:

Comparative analysis of philosophical arguments from naturalistic humanism and behavior analysis.
Examination of theoretical frameworks addressing the 'why be moral?' dilemma without recourse to supernaturalism.
Literature review of existing scholarship on ethical naturalism and behavioral ethics.

Main Results:

Both naturalistic humanism and behavior analysis offer distinct, yet parallel, approaches to justifying moral behavior.
These naturalistic frameworks provide rationales for individual morality independent of divine command or supernatural retribution.
The study finds that naturalistic approaches, while facing unique challenges, are not inherently disadvantaged compared to theistic ones.

Conclusions:

Naturalistic ethical systems can provide compelling reasons for individuals to act morally, even in the absence of detection or divine oversight.
The strategies developed by naturalistic humanists and behavior analysts offer viable alternatives to supernatural explanations for morality.
Ultimately, naturalistic approaches to ethics are as robust as their theistic counterparts in addressing the fundamental question of why one should be moral.