Philosophy of Cognitive Science

Haidt's Dumbfounding:

Julie and Mark are brother and sister. They are traveling together in France on summer vacation from college. One night they are staying alone in a cabin near the beach. They decide that it would be interesting and fun if they tried making love. At the very least, it would be a new experience for each of them. Julie was already taking birth control pills, but Mark uses a condom too, just to be safe. They both enjoy making love, but they decide not to do it again. They keep that night as a special secret, which makes them feel even closer to each other. What do you think about that? Was it okay for them to make love?

[Understanding of moral truths occurs] not by a process of ratiocination and reflection but rather by a process more akin to perception, in which one ‘just sees without argument that they are and must be true’ (2001, 814)

moral intuitions (including moral emotions) come first and directly cause moral judgments … Moral intuition is a kind of cognition, but it is not a kind of reasoning. (2001, 814)