Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Ethics and Bioethics01:22

Ethics and Bioethics

3.4K
Ethics is a philosophical study of moral actions. Ethics attempts to determine what is valuable for individuals and society. It examines the rational justification of moral judgments and analyzes what is morally just, fair, and right. Bioethics is a sub-discipline of applied ethics that analyzes the philosophical, social, and legal issues in life sciences and medicine. Ethical theories serve as a foundation for decision-making and represent the viewpoints from which people seek direction. They...
3.4K
Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development01:19

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

1.3K
Kohlberg's theory of moral development uses the Heinz dilemma — a thought experiment in which a man, Heinz, must decide whether to steal an unaffordable drug to save his dying wife — to illustrate the evolution of moral reasoning. This framework, divided into three levels with two stages, highlights how individuals' understanding of right and wrong becomes increasingly complex.
Pre-Conventional Level
At the pre-conventional level, morality is primarily driven by personal...
1.3K
Ethical Dilemmas I01:17

Ethical Dilemmas I

2.3K
Ethical dilemmas in nursing are of utmost importance, as they often arise from the tension between adhering to core ethical principles and the practical realities of healthcare delivery. These dilemmas require nurses to navigate complex situations where competing ethical considerations pull them in different directions.
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...
2.3K
Nursing Ethical Principles I01:22

Nursing Ethical Principles I

4.6K
Ethical principles serve as the moral compass in the longstanding tradition of nursing, guiding healthcare professionals in their interactions with patients and families. These principles, namely autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and fidelity, provide a robust framework for navigating the ethical complexities of daily nursing practice.
Autonomy
Autonomy underscores the significance of a patient's self-determination and freedom from external control. In healthcare, respecting...
4.6K
Egoism and Altruism01:55

Egoism and Altruism

94.2K
Voluntary behavior with the intent to help other people is called prosocial behavior. Why do people help other people? Is personal benefit such as feeling good about oneself the only reason people help one another?
94.2K
Professional Values01:29

Professional Values

11.2K
Nurses are responsible for caring for patients during birth, death, illness, and healing. Professional values guide the decisions and actions that nurses make in their careers. If nurses know the decisions and actions to take, providing patients with exceptional care is possible.
The values that are the foundation of the nursing profession are altruism, autonomy, human dignity, and social justice.
First, altruism refers to the concern for the welfare and well-being of others without personal...
11.2K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Patience and Patience Regulation: Development and Psychometric Evaluation of Complementary Scales with Alternate Forms.

Journal of personality assessment·2026
Same author

Challenges Facing the Appeal to Practical Wisdom in Medicine and Beyond.

The Journal of medicine and philosophy·2025
Same author

The moral animal: virtue, vice, and human nature.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2016
Same author

In defense of a supernatural foundation to morality: reply to Shermer.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2016
Same author

Morality is real, objective, and supernatural.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2016
Same journal

Multiomics Profiling During Autoimmune Demyelination Highlights a Complex Regulatory Role for Ataxin-1 in B Cells.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
Same journal

Global Trends in Light Pollution and Their Relationship With Socioeconomic Factors.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
Same journal

Wired for Corruption: Inter-Brain Synchrony Encodes Bribery-Related Value Information and Predicts Bribery Agreement.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
Same journal

LM-YOLO: A Lightweight Multi-Scale Enhanced Model for Forest Smoke Detection Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
Same journal

Polyrhythm Perception and Production: A Scoping Review.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
Same journal

DARTS-CNN-BiLSTM: Intelligent Fault Diagnosis for Computer Numerical Control Machine Tool Feed System.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 21, 2026

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling
06:51

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

Published on: April 6, 2018

8.9K

On Shermer on morality.

Christian B Miller1

  • 1Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
|May 21, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This commentary critiques Michael Shermer's views on objective morality. While agreeing morality is real and objective, it questions the origins and guidance provided by his naturalistic moral theory.

Keywords:
Michael ShermerMilgramaggressiondesireethicsevolutionary ethicshuman naturemoralityobedience

More Related Videos

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task
06:08

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task

Published on: July 22, 2025

1.1K
Quantifying Social Motivation in Mice Using Operant Conditioning
07:43

Quantifying Social Motivation in Mice Using Operant Conditioning

Published on: August 8, 2015

19.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 21, 2026

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling
06:51

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

Published on: April 6, 2018

8.9K
Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task
06:08

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task

Published on: July 22, 2025

1.1K
Quantifying Social Motivation in Mice Using Operant Conditioning
07:43

Quantifying Social Motivation in Mice Using Operant Conditioning

Published on: August 8, 2015

19.1K

Area of Science:

  • Moral philosophy
  • Ethics
  • Meta-ethics

Background:

  • Michael Shermer argues morality is real, objective, and natural.
  • This commentary critically engages with Shermer's foundational claims.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To raise reservations about Shermer's account of the origins of morality.
  • To question the action guidance provided by Shermer's moral theory.

Main Methods:

  • Critical analysis of Shermer's "Morality is real, objective, and natural."
  • Philosophical argumentation regarding moral foundations and ethical guidance.

Main Results:

  • Shermer's approach to moral foundations may permit disturbing behaviors as moral.
  • Shermer's account of moral content lacks sufficient action guidance for ethical decision-making.

Conclusions:

  • Serious reservations exist regarding the source and practical application of Shermer's naturalistic morality.
  • Further development is needed for a robust theory of objective morality that provides clear ethical guidance.