Interesting article in the WSJ today about a recent experiment conducted at Harvard.  Researchers found that individuals who had experienced damage to a specific portion of their brain were less likely to express moral sensitivity.

This supports an idea that I discovered a few weeks ago (in a reading for Ethics class) on the connection between biology and ethics.  Edward O. Wilson, a Pulitzer-prize winning Ant scientist, wrote an article in the Atlantic Monthly that really set the wheels turning in my brain.

The basic idea is that any “absolute morality” that humans experience has been created by humans, to help us survive.  As humans evolved, those societies that developed certain ethical principles (e.g. murder is wrong) were more likely to survive.  Over time, these beliefs were codified into ethics and humans created religions to help solidify their power.

Controversial: check
Logical: check
Heresy (to a religious person who believes that morality comes from belief in God): check
Truth: check