Cooperação e empatia: uma articulação em favor dos fundamentos naturais para a moralidade

Abstract

This master’s thesis aims to present theoretical and empirical contributions that can support a naturalist approach to the moral phenomenon. In the present work, morality is understood as a necessary phenomenon to maintain group life of complex social mammals. Such a hypothesis is held throughout the thesis based on the relationship between empathy and cooperation inside the group of great primates, more specifically in chimpanzee communities (Pan troglodytes verus). This sub-species was chosen due to its evolutionary proximity to Homo sapiens. The present research is anchored in Hume’s studies, particularly in his ideas on treating issues pertaining to the field of moral philosophy based on the use of experimental methods, as well as on new advancements taking place in biological and cognitive sciences that allow us to seek new purpose to questions often present in the speculative field of moral philosophy. Research in the area supports the hypothesis according to which moral manifestations are grounded on the emotional, enabling a better understanding of it towards moral phenomena in social mammals of life complex. Ethological studies with primates provide us with indispensable contributions to holding the hypothesis that some emotions are brought about as a result of certain facts socially regarded as of great value. The present study, therefore, shows that the indispensable elements for the emergence of the moral phenomenon are present in the biological structure of social mammals of complex life. The empirical data and the theoretical reflections brought in this thesis contribute significantly to holding the argument favoring a theory that aims to understand morality through an evolutionary basis.