Argument Analysis about The Moral Instinct by Steven Pinker Essay

Argument Analysis about The Moral Instinct by Steven Pinker - Essay Example He asserts that the distinct patterning of brain activity displayed in this and other experiments illustrates an instinctive moral sense that exists organically in the human brain, â€Å"hardwired† in a manner similar to how other theorists have posited grammar as fundamental to human instinct, yet distinct from other types of mental and emotional activity. Pinker invokes â€Å"history’s best-thought-through moral philosophies, including the Golden Rule (itself discovered many times); Spinoza’s Viewpoint of Eternity; the Social Contract of Hobbes, Rousseau and Locke; Kant’s Categorical Imperative; and Rawls’s Veil of Ignorance... (as well as) Peter Singer’s theory of the Expanding Circle,† numerous scientific studies from psychology, neuroscience, sociology, and other disciplines to build his thesis from authoritative sources of reference, yet ultimately fails to prove conclusively why his hypothesis is differentiated from pure supposi tion. (Pinker, 2008) For example, in ‘The Moral Instinct,’ Pinker writes: â€Å"According to Noam Chomsky, we are born with a ‘universal grammar’ that forces us to analyze speech in terms of its grammatical structure, with no conscious awareness of the rules in play. By analogy, we are born with a universal moral grammar that forces us to analyze human action in terms of its moral structure, with just as little awareness. The idea that the moral sense is an innate part of human nature is not far-fetched. A list of human universals collected by the anthropologist Donald E. Brown includes many moral concepts and emotions, including a distinction between right and wrong; empathy; fairness; admiration of generosity; rights and obligations; proscription of murder, rape and other forms of violence; redress of wrongs; sanctions for wrongs against the community; shame; and taboos.† (Pinker, 2008) Symbolically, Pinker begins his essay by introducing historical figures or pop culture